MADISON — Madison coach Jason Furbush was excited about the opportunity to play one of the top teams in Class C South, just to find out where the Bulldogs would fit in come tournament time.

Monday night, Furbush got his wish and Madison responded with an exceptional half-court, man-to-man defense that fueled an impressive 50-45 win over highly regarded Winthrop.

“We knew they were a tough team,” Furbush said. “We’ve been playing well and needed a game like this to see where we were. This is a great boost for our confidence.”

Madison’s defense was strong on the perimeter holding Winthrop to just 18-of-54 (33 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs, however, had a difficult time on the inside, stopping Rambler big man Anthony Owens, who netted a game-high 17 points.

“They came at us hard and dictated the pace of the game,” Winthrop coach Todd McArthur said. “Owens responded quite well for us, especially when we had a hard time shooting from the outside.”

Locked in a tight battle, Madison’s Chase Malloy (team-high 16 points) gave the Bulldogs a big boost in the fourth quarter, just as the Ramblers were starting to gain momentum. Malloy’s steal and break away layup pushed Madison’s lead to 38-33 with 5:54 remaining in the game.

“This was a huge win for us, we proved we could beat a top team,” Malloy said. “We did a good job defensively.”

Winthrop managed to cut the lead to 42-38 with 3:07 left on a jumper from the right base line by Jacob Hickey and a single free throw from Owens.

Mitch Jarvis (15 points) put the game to rest at 1:33 when teammate Sean Whalen slide a bounce pass through the Winthrop defense on a baseline cut by Jarvais, who slammed the ball through the rim for a 44-38 lead.

“We have some hard games coming up,” Furbush said. “This is what we wanted at the end of the season.”

Madison took its largest lead of the game, 22-13, near the end of the first half on a pair of Malloy free throws. Winthrop’s Cam Wood beat the halftime buzzer to cut the margin to 22-15. Madison built it’s halftime lead with a pair of 6-0 runs in the quarter.

Hickey helped the Ramblers climb back into the game, hitting a three-pointer from the right side on Winthrop’s first possession of the third quarter. Hickey’s basket sent Winthrop on a 12-4 run that culminated when Spencer Steele converted a conventional three-point play to give the Ramblers a brief 27-26 lead at 3:38.

During the final two minutes of the third quarter the game was tied twice before Madison’s Whalen drained a three-pointer from the right side for a 34-31 lead entering the final eight minutes.

Madison finished the game hitting 19 of 42 (45 percent) from the floor and 10 of 15 from the free throw line. Winthrop hit 7 of 15 from the line.