Box Score
WATERTOWN, Wis. - Head Coach Todd Adrian felt confident his Edgewood College men's basketball team would break out of their shooting slump eventually. However, he probably didn't think the Eagles would do it with their best shooting performance in at least 10 years. The Eagles shot 68.2 percent from the field and ran away from Maranatha Baptist early in an 81-50 victory.
The Crusaders handed the Eagles a loss back on January 19 in Madison, but Edgewood College made sure there would be no repeat of that upset. The Eagles (11-11, 8-6 NAC) made 10 of their first 12 shots from the field in rolling out to a 23-12 lead 11 minutes into the game. Junior forward Jeff Barczak scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting during that span.
The baskets would continue to fall the rest of the first half. The Eagles took complete command with a 16-0 run that wasn't broken until Maranatha Baptist (6-14, 1-13 NAC) made a free throw in the final minute of the half. Barczak added three more baskets to finish the first half with 18 points on 9-for-9 shooting. The rest of the Eagles were nearly as good, as Edgewood College went 19-for-24 (76 percent) from the field for a 45-17 lead at the break.
The Eagles pushed the margin over 30 points in the second half, with their largest lead coming at 71-36 with just over six minutes remaining. The Eagles shot 57.9 percent in the second half to finish at 68.2 percent (30-for-44) on the night. It was the Eagles best shooting performance going back to the 2000-01 season, the first season for which the school has game-by-game statistics on file. Only six times in that span have the Eagles shot 60 percent or better until Thursday night.
Barczak finished 12-for-13 from the field for a career-high 24 points, set just a day short of one year from his previous career-high of 22 points, also against Maranatha Baptist. Sophomore Ben Wisniewski made six of seven shots from the field for 16 points. Freshman Michael Gehring came off the bench to add nine points. The Eagles outrebounded the Crusaders 31-21. No Maranatha Baptist player scored in double figures. The Crusaders were led by Dave Esgar who tallied seven points off the bench.
With the victory, Edgewood College gains sole possession of second place in the Northern Athletics Conference North Division and inched closer to a home game in the opening round of the NAC Tournament. The Eagles can clinch a berth in the NAC Tournament with a win in either of their two remaining NAC games.
Edgewood College will be back at the Edgedome on Saturday for their regular season finale against Rockford College. The Eagles will honor their lone departing senior Aaron Ritschard prior to the game which tips off at 4:15 p.m.
