Box Score
MADISON, Wis. – Four Eagles reached double figures with three scoring 18 apiece, but it wasn't enough as North Park University hung on for a 90-79 win at the Todd Wehr Edgedome on Tuesday night.
Ben Wisniewski, Aaron Ritschard and Jon Ciche each scored a game-high 18 points, as did North Park's Roshawn Russell. Edgewood College dropped its second home game of the season while falling two games under .500 in the process.
The Eagles (1-3) put the pressure on early with a 7-0 run right out of the gate thanks to two Ciche layups and a Wisniewski three-pointer to force North Park to take its first timeout just two minutes into the game. Edgewood College would push the lead to 18-10 before the Vikings went on a 10-0 run to claim the lead.
Wisniewski then drained a three-pointer from the left wing to give the Eagles the lead back. They would extend the advantage to four at 24-20 before North Park's Nick Williams provided the second significant spark in 10 minutes with another 10-0 run to give the Vikings (2-2) the lead for good. They would take a 48-41 cushion into halftime.
The closest the Eagles would get in the second half was three points after a Ritschard bucket and a Jeff Barczak dunk to cut the deficit to 48-45 coming out of the break. Edgewood College never trailed by more than 13 points and had cut the Viking lead to seven with just 1:53 remaining. Turnovers cost the Eagles crucial possessions towards the end and North Park used its free throw opportunities to put the game out of reach.
The game was actually a much closer contest than the score indicated as a result of good free throw shooting down the stretch by the Vikings. They hit 10 of their last 12 from the charity stripe spanning over the final 1:51.
Edgewood College committed 16 turnovers in all, three of them coming in the last 1:46, and the Vikings capitalized on them scoring 27 points off turnovers for the game. North Park also won the bench scoring battle 47-11 as they were led by Ryan Biegie and Clayton Cahill who scored 17 apiece in more than 20 minutes of action off the pine.
Wisniewski pulled down a team-high six rebounds and Ciche matched him adding six blocks on the night as well. Ritschard made his first start of the season and added four rebounds and six assists while Barczak totaled 10 points and five rebounds in the losing effort.
The Eagles shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the field and were just 6-of-21 from behind the arc on Tuesday. A better performance in both aspects will almost certainly be needed when they travel to No. 4 UW-Whitewater on Saturday in a non-conference matchup at the Williams Center. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m.
