The College of DuPage men’s basketball team battled Madison College for the first time since beating them for the Region 4 Championship last season. The Chaparrals kept the WolfPack at bay until they took the lead with a little over four minutes left. COD clawed back to the top with 38 seconds on the clock and didn’t let go, beating Madison 74-71 and raising their record to 10-6.

“I thought for the most part it went fairly well,” assistant men’s basketball coach Eric Garcia said. “Defensively, I thought we started off the game pretty strong. Offensively, we started out shooting the ball very well, so for the most part, we were pretty good. We wanted to make it close in the second half, but we kind of lost some offensive momentum. It’s always nice to squeak it out at the end, be just a little tougher and get the win.”

Sophomore guard Jayden Dean led the team with 17 points and six defensive rebounds. He also led with six assists.

“It was good to start off the year with a win,” Dean said. “It was a hard one, but we did some good and some bad. We’re going to work on it and fix it for the next game.”

Sophomore guard John Gray III racked up 16 points and made four defensive rebounds. He also picked up four assists and three steals.

“Our will to win was stronger than theirs,” Gray III said. “We had the grit and won the game.”

In his first game of the season, freshman center Luka Cuk scored 12 points and made four total rebounds. He also put up two blocks. He said although he feels like this game didn’t go his way, he thinks the camaraderie of the team guided them to victory.

“I think I overdid it just a little bit,” Cuk said. “I didn’t breathe properly. I think I played one of the worst games in my life. I passed the most stupid pass, they got a steal, and I almost threw the game. Other than that, I thank the guys for saving the game.”

Freshman forward Braylen Meredith added nine points and led the team with seven total rebounds. He also picked up one assist. He said Madison was tenacious, but it wasn’t enough to take COD down.

“They’re a team that’s always trying to stay in it,” Meredith said. “They were just kind of throwing shots up there. We were playing really good defense, and we also offensively rebounded pretty well. Other than that, we took care of business.”

Garcia said the team’s focus is on the playoffs as they navigate the rest of the season.

“After every game, we’ve got to get better,” he said. “We’re not playing for tomorrow. We’re playing for in a few weeks and getting ready for playoff time. We’ll get back to watching some film tomorrow. We can learn from what we did well today and get better at the things we didn’t do well today, and hopefully we can get one on Saturday.”

The Chaparrals take on the College of Lake County Lancers for the second time this season at 3 p.m. on Jan. 6 in Grayslake Ill.