Box Score
ROCKFORD, Ill. – In a game that saw the Northern Athletics Conference's stingiest defense matchup with its second highest scoring offense, something had to give. In the end the defense won as Edgewood College held Rockford College's offense nine points under their season average as the Eagles topped the Regents 84-76.
In a half where neither team gained more than a six point advantage, there were seven ties and 10 lead changes. With the Eagles (8-6, 5-1 NAC) leading 10-9 the Regents (7-6, 2-4 NAC) went on a run as they scored eight of the next ten points to earn their largest lead of the game, five points at 17-12 with 12:39 remaining. A minute later, Kent Faurote sparked an Eagle comeback when he drilled a three-point basket. Jeff Barczak followed that with a layup to tie the score at 17.
With four minutes to play in the first half and Edgewood College trailing by one point, Ben Wisniewski went on a scoring flurry. He gave the Eagles the lead with back-to-back three-point baskets, and then he hit a couple free throws. In all he scored eight consecutive Eagle points over a two minute period. Andrew Cobb then stretched the Edgewood College lead to six when he drilled a three-point basket with the shot clock running down and only 1:12 on the game clock. However, The Regents cut the deficit to two points at the intermission after Garrett Staniec tip-in at the buzzer to make the halftime score 37-35.
Coming out of the break, Rockford went on a quick 5-0 scoring spurt to take a three point lead just two minutes into the frame. That lead turned out to be the Regents last lead of the game since Faurote answered with another three-point basket to tie the game then Wisniewski gave Edgewood College the lead when he hit a free throw.
The last of the games 11 ties came at the 12:50 mark, and after that point the Eagles scored six straight points and nine of the next 12 points. Wisniewski started that spurt with a jump shot and another three-point basket. Derek Nkemji made a couple free throws and Tony Cates capped off the 6-0 run with a layup. Over the final nine minutes the Eagles shot 18 free throws, and made 16 to seal the 84-76 victory.
On the night, Edgewood College blocked six Regent shot attempts and held the Rockford offense to just 14.3 percent shooting from three-point range, 2-for-14. On the other side the Eagles shot a blistering 56.3 percent from behind the arc, 9-for-16, and all those makes came from three players, Wisniewski made four, Faurote made three and Cobb made two.
Cobb led the Eagles with a season-high 21 points, and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Wisniewski was not far behind as he tallied 19 points and Faurote added 16 points of his own. Nkemnji was the final Eagle in double figures as he scored eight of his 14 points coming from the free throw stripe. In all the Eagles shot 75 percent from the charity stripe and 47.1 percent from the field. The Regents also had four scorers in double figures and were led by Staniec who scored 21 points.
The Eagles will next be in action on Tuesday when they return home to face Maranatha Baptist with the tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Edgewood College will provide live video and live stats, both links can be found on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.
