Box Score

MADISON, Wis. – Susquehanna University nipped Edgewood College 75-69 in a non-conference meeting and first between both schools on Friday night at the Mayser Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College. The Crusaders never trailed en route to advancing to the Sponaugle New Year's Tournament Championship game Saturday night.

Susquehanna used a 20-7 run in the first half that spanned nearly 10 minutes to take a 14-point lead and a 37-29 advantage into halftime. Leading all scorers was Susquehanna's Matt McDevitt who scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and was just two rebounds shy of a double-double.

The Eagles used an 8-0 run following a Jon Ciche tip-in in the second half to cut the deficit to 57-51 with 8:23 remaining. However, each time it seemed as if Edgewood College would put together a run to climb all the way back, the Crusaders would interrupt it with a run of their own. Immediately, Susquehanna stretched the lead back to double-digits with a three-pointer from Spenser Spencer and a free-throw by Bryan Majors.

The Eagles' Brock Bidlingmaier did his best to keep his team in the game as he nailed a three-point basket to cut the deficit to five with a little more than five minutes to go. Bidlingmaier finished with a career-high 16 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting and was 3-of-7 from three-point range. He shared team-high honors with John Schuster who also scored 16 points. Schuster was 5-of-7 from the field and perfect with his only two attempts from the three-point arc.

The Crusader lead was four with just over three minutes remaining. Despite going just 5-of-12 from the free throw line and a mere 16-of-33 for the game, they were able to hold on for the 6-point victory. Edgewood College wasn't much better from the charity stripe as they went 14-of-22 for a shade over 63 percent.

Both teams struggled with their shooting strokes as the Crusaders shot just 38.9 percent (28-of-72) to the Eagles' 36.5 percent (23-of-63). Susquehanna's Joel Patch pulled in the game's lone double-double as he finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds in 35 minutes.

Ciche was two points shy of a double-double finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds to go with his game-high four blocks in the loss. Fellow Eagle Ben Wisniewski chipped in 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting and Kent Faurote was close behind him with nine points on 3-of-14 from the field.