HOWARD'S GROVE, Wis. (February 23, 2006) -- The Edgewood College men's basketball team pulled off an upset Thursday evening, eliminating top-seeded Lakeland College from the Lake Michigan Conference tournament by a final score of 76-70 in the semifinal round.
It was only the Muskies' (21-6) second home loss and second to an LMC opponent this season. The Eagles (15-11) advance to the title game as the No. 4 seed where they will take on No. 3 Wisconsin Lutheran College on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Charlie Averkamp (New Berlin, Wis.) went four-of-four on three-point attempts in the first seven minutes of the contest to jumpstart the Eagles, and they led 40-27 at halftime. Edgewood, which shot 54.5 percent from the floor, was shooting over 77.0 percent as a team midway through the first half.
Edgewood led by as many as 17 points in the second half, and was able to withstand a late push by the Muskies. Lakeland never took the lead in the final period, but tied the score twice. Kris Saiberlich’s three-pointer with 4:38 remaining knotted the score at 59-59. A pair of Averkamp free throws and a three-point basket by Ryan Johnsen (Greendale, Wis.) extended the Eagles’ lead back to five back to five points, and Seth Cooper* (Madison, Wis.) was able to handle the rest.
Cooper drained seven free throws in the final 45 seconds to help secure the victory. The senior forward scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half and was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. Cooper also finished with a team-high 10 rebounds and five assists.
Averkamp contributed 21 points to the winning effort and Jon Ciche (Franklin, Wis.) added 15 points and four blocked shots. Germayne James led the Muskies with 26 points followed by 15 point by Saiberlich and 12 points from Matt Rogers. Lakeland struggled offensively at times and shot only 35.0 percent from the field.
For the first time in Steve Larson’s 20-year stint as head coach, the Eagles will attempt Saturday to claim back-to-back LMC tournament championships and NCAA Division III national tournament appearances. In addition to his 362 career victories, Larson has five LMC tournament titles to his credit (1992, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005) and two NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2005).
Tip-off against Wisconsin Lutheran College is set for 2 p.m. in Milwaukee. The winner receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. The Warriors (13-14) defeated Edgewood twice in the regular season. They claimed an 82-78 victory over the Eagles on Jan. 31 in Milwaukee and an 83-78 overtime decision in Madison on Feb. 11.
Live streaming audio will be available for Saturday’s LMC championship game, beginning with the pre-game show at 1:45 p.m.
