Box Score
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Many basketball players practice hitting a pair of game-winning free throws, but never get the chance to do it in a game. Edgewood College's Jeff Barczak went one better. The junior forward was fouled on a potential game-winning three-point attempt, and then calmly drained three straight free throws with 1.4 seconds left to give the Edgewood College men's basketball team a heart-stopping 57-56 victory over MSOE.
Edgewood College (10-9, 7-4 NAC) appeared to be heading toward defeat with just a minute left to play. Sophomore guard Ben Wisniewski was called for a foul that sent MSOE's leading scorer Austin Meier to the free throw line. Meier hit a pair of shots to give the Raiders a 56-54 lead with 61 seconds to play. The Eagles transitioned quickly, but forward Tony Cates missed an inside shot and the Raiders controlled the rebound with 48 seconds to go.
MSOE (11-8, 6-5 NAC) held the ball, but was forced to shoot as the shot clock wound down. Luke Larson's three-point attempt was off the mark and pulled down by Cates with 16 seconds to play. Eagle head coach Todd Adrian elected not to call a timeout and let his team work for the game tying or winning shot. With two seconds to play the Eagles found Barczak in the left corner behind the arc. His shot was off the mark, but MSOE's Jeremy Off made contact with Barczak, knocking him to the floor with 1.4 seconds to go
Barczak, who hadn't scored a single point in the game yet, went to the line for three free throw attempts. His first two attempts were on the mark, tying the game at 56. MSOE called a timeout, hoping to break Barczak's rhythm and set up a final shot of their own. Barczak failed to be rattled and drained the game-winning free throw. On the ensuing inbound, Barczak deflected the pass and Andrew Cobb recovered the ball as time expired, ensuring the Eagles' 10th victory of the season.
In the first half, it didn't appear that the Eagles would need any last second dramatics. Edgewood College used a 16-4 run in the middle of the half to gain a 27-14 lead with 8:15 to play in the half. The Eagle lead grew as big as 14 before a pair of Raider three-pointers cut the their halftime lead to 35-25.
It took MSOE less than six minutes to erase the Eagles' halftime advantage. The Raiders scored the first 12 points of the half as the fans in the Kern Center settled in for a nip-and-tuck battle the rest of the way. Neither team led by more than three points in the final 16 minutes of the game.
Wisniewski led a very balanced Eagle attack with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting. A pair of freshmen, Cobb and Michael Gehring joined Wisniewski in double figures. Cobb had 11 points and four assists, while Gehring went 5-for-6 from the field to finish with 10 points. Sophomore Kent Faurote pulled down a season-high nine rebounds. The Eagles shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) in the frst half, and finished at 44 percent (22-for-50) for the game.
MSOE was led by Meier who surpassed 1,000 career points in scoring 17 for the game. Off finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Edgewood College maintained a share of first place in the NAC North division, heading into a key contest with Lakeland College on Tuesday night at the Edgedome in Madison. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be seen live on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.
