PLATTEVILLE, Wis. (Nov. 17, 2007) – The Edgewood College men’s basketball team defeated Beloit College 72-56 on Saturday November 17, in day two of the Pioneer Tip-Off Classic hosted by UW-Platteville. The Eagles controlled the game after being down early, taking a 13 point lead into the half en route to a 16 point victory. Jon Ciche (Franklin, Wis.) had a double-double with a game high 11 rebounds and 12 points.
Beloit College got on the board first as Adam Puls drained a three to give the Buccaneers a three point lead. Charlie Averkamp (New Berlin, Wis.) would respond, sinking a three of his own to knot the score at 3-3. Beloit College built themselves an early five point lead at 11-6. The Eagles would respond going on an 11-2 run, led by Jon Ciche who scored five of the eleven points. Edgewood College led by as much as 14 in the first half and took a 13 point lead into half, leading 43-30. Charlie Averkamp had 14 points in the first half, while Jon Ciche had 8 rebounds and 7 points in the first half. Cody Bysted had 12 points for the Bucs in the first twenty minutes. The Eagles out-rebounded the Bucs 23-12 in the half.
The second half saw both teams go in scoring droughts as Edgewood College went 5 minutes without a bucket, until an Evan Klees tip-in at 8:04 gave the Eagles a 57-44 lead. The Eagles would extend the lead to a game high 18 points with 4:17 remaining off a John Fahey (Oregon, Wis.) lay-up. Beloit College hit a field goal with 11:54 left in the game and would go over 9 minutes without a field goal until 2:11 remaining when Derek Lovgren hit a shot to close the gap to 64-51. Beloit’s Cody Bysted hit a trey with 1:57 remaining to cut the Eagle lead to only ten points. It proved to be too little too late however as Edgewood College held on for the victory 72-56. Charlie Averkamp had a game high 20 points along with six rebounds in the game. John Fahey scored 15 points to join Averkamp and Ciche as the three Eagles scoring in double figures. Ciche also had a game high six assists to go along with his 11 rebounds and 12 points. Beloit’s Cody Bysted led the Bucs in scoring with 19 points. Derek Lovgren led Beloit in rebounds, grabbing 8 boards. The Eagles out-rebounded the Buccaneers 43-30 in the game. The Buccaneers shot just 32.3% from the field to the Eagles 52.9%.
The win improves the Eagles record to 1-1 on the year, while Beloit College drops to 0-2. The Eagles next game is on Wednesday November 21, as they travel to Lake Forest College for a game against the Foresters. Gametime is 7 p.m. The Eagles first home game is on Saturday December 8, as they take on NAC rival MSOE at the Edgedome. Gametime is 4:15 p.m.
Summary by Mark Albanese, Sports Information
