MADISON, Wis. (February 19, 2006) -- In a Lake Michigan Conference men’s basketball tournament quarterfinal game from the Todd Wehr Edgedome, Edgewood College trailed Dominican University (13-13) at halftime, but the Eagles (14-11) outscored their opponent by 17 points in the second half and prevailed 72-58 on Sunday.
Edgewood received quite a performance from Jon Ciche (Franklin, Wis.), who recorded 24 points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocked shots – all season and game highs for the 6-foot-8 freshman post player. A pair of slam dunks by Ciche energized the Eagle faithful and aided in his team's momentum at key times throughout the contest. The first dunk came off a behind-the-back pass by Justin Kuhnau* (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.), who got the ball to Ciche on a three-on-one fastbreak by the Eagles.
Edgewood's largest lead of the first half came when Eddie Hebl (Brookfield, Wis.) came off of the bench and immediately connected on a three-point basket to put the Eagles up 17-6 at the 13:05 mark. Edgewood was able to extend their lead to 13 points following a pair of free throws by Seth Cooper* (Madison, Wis.) to make the score 25-12.
The Eagles were held to just two field goals in the final nine minutes of the first half, however, as the Stars mounted a giant comeback. Dominican closed out the first period on a 20-4 run and held a 32-29 lead at the half.
But Cooper, Ciche, and Charlie Averkamp (New Berlin, Wis.) took over in the second half, combining for 36 of the team’s 43 points in the final period. The Eagles also went 22-of-26 from the free throw line, including a perfect 18-of-18 in the second half, and finished with just 12 turnovers.
Cooper scored 15 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes and was 13-of-13 from the charity stripe. Cooper and Averkamp tallied nine rebounds each, and Averkamp also added 14 points on the offensive end. The Eagles were also without the services of freshman Chris DeMarco (Appleton, Wis.), who was out with illness.
The Stars were led by Mike Haiduc, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Binyamin Jones contributed 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Dominican is eliminated from the LMC tournament with the loss.
Fourth-seeded Edgewood, the defending LMC tournament champion, will now travel to Sheboygan, Wis. for a semifinal round match-up with top-seeded Lakeland College. Dates and times of the remaining tournament games will be released Monday. Changes to the original tournament schedule were made following the postponement of the quarterfinal games last Thursday, Feb. 16 due to inclement weather.
