Box Score MADISON, Wis. – It's hard to believe that a team that missed its first 22 three-point shots can point to their three-point shooting for a victory, but that's the position the Edgewood College men's basketball team finds themselves in tonight. After 35 minutes of three-point line futility, the Eagles nailed five of their final six attempts in the last five minutes of the game to pull out a 63-57 win over Concordia University Chicago.
No one in the Edgedome will look back on the first half of Saturday's game fondly. Edgewood College (8-6, 6-3 NACC) missed eight three-point shots in the first 8:30 of the game, but somehow was still tied with the Cougars at 8-8. Cocnordia Chicago (5-8, 2-7 NACC) went on a 11-4 run to open up a 19-12 lead and still led 24-19 at halftime behind eight points and eight rebounds from Marcus Elston. The Eagles went 0-for-15 from the three-point line, and scored their fewest points in any half this season.
Edgewood College rallied back to even and actually took a three-point lead at 30-27 with an 11-3 run to begin the second half. However, the Eagles still couldn't get their jump shots on track and Concordia Chicago pushed ahead for a 45-37 lead on a Brandon Stinson jumper with 5:54 left to play.
Finally, on their 23rd three-point attempt of the night, Edgewood College broke through. Brett Meinecke broke the seal with 5:05 left to play and cut the Cougars lead to 47-42. After a pair of Joe Klocek free throws, Dylan Rusch nailed another triple from the top of the key to tie the game at 47-47. On the next possession, Tal Diekvoss stepped behind a screen by Trevor Neale and gave the Eagles the lead.
Diekvoss then summoned a little magic on the next trip down the court. After a loose ball in front of the Eagles bench, Diekvoss caught a skip pass on the other side of the court. After a moment's hesitation, he realized the shot clock was under three seconds and let fly a 30-footer from the deep right wing which found the bottom of the net for a 53-48 Eagles advantage with two minutes left to play.
Concordia Chicago's Mike Walmer and Stinson combined for three free throws to bring the Cougars back within 53-51, but following an Edgewood College timeout, Klocek hit from the top of the arc to put the Eagles back up five. The Cougars' Kostas Doxakis hit a three-pointer with 30 seconds left to make the score 57-54, but Klocek and Rusch would combine for six free throws in the final seconds to nail down the victory.
Klocek scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, including a 7-for-7 effort at the free throw line. Justin Williams nearly had his second straight double-double, but still finished with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Over his last six games, Williams is averaging 14 points and 10.2 rebounds. In addition to his big three-point shots, Diekvoss dished out three assists to lead the Eagles. After shooting just 25 percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles hit on 44.8 percent in the second half.
Elston and Stinson led Concordia Chicago with 17 points apiecem while Elston collected a game-high 12 rebounds. The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field, but were bitten hard at the free throw line, struggling to make just 53.6 percent (15-for-28).
Edgewood College, now alone in fourth place in the NACC, will hit the road on Tuesday for a matchup with second place Lakeland College. Tuesday's showdown begins at 7:00 p.m.
