MADISON, Wis. (Jan. 12, 2008) – Edgewood College pushed their way past the .500 mark by winning their fourth straight game with a gutsy defensive effort. The Eagles led wire-to-wire and held Benedictine University to just 30.6 percent shooting in a 72-59 victory at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. Edgewood College shot 54.9 percent from the field and held a commanding 46-28 rebounding advantage.

Edgewood College (7-6, 4-2 NAC) jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind six early points from Chris DeMarco. The Eagles would hold at least an eight-point lead the rest of the evening and extend it as high as 16 in the second half.

Edgewood College’s defensive effort was spearheaded by sophomore guard Aaron Ritschard who held Benedictine’s leading scorer, Jared Bailey to just two points on one-for-eight shooting. Bailey entered the contest averaging 19.3 points per game. The taller Eagles from Edgewood College swatted eight Benedictine (5-9, 4-3 NAC) shots led by three each from Charlie Averkamp and Jon Ciche, Edgewood’s all-time blocked shots leader.

DeMarco led the team in scoring notching his fourth double-double of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Averkamp flirted with a triple-double scoring 15 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Ciche had nine points and five assists to go with his three blocked shots. Edgewood College topped 50 percent shooting for the fifth time this season, despite failing to make a three-point shot in nine attempts.

Benedictine was led by a trio of double figure scorers in Brian Geslinger who had 12 points, all from the three-point line, Patrick Noonan who finished with 11 points and Michael Fahey who had 10. Genslinger also had a team-high six rebounds and Noonan dished out six assists.

Edgewood College will return to action on Thursday, January 17 when they face the Cougars of Concordia University Chicago at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. Game time is 7 p.m. and all the action can be heard on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.