MADISON, Wis. – It had all the makings of a great season opening win for the Edgewood College men's basketball team, but Loras College's Mirko Grcic and Aaron Schueller wouldn't let it happen. Schueller saved the Duhawks with a tying three at the end of regulation and Grcic was unstoppable in the Eagles' 89-84 overtime loss to open the 2014-15 season. Dylan Rusch had 23 points to lead Edgewood College.
Trailing 35-31 at halftime, Edgewood College (0-1) opened the second half with a 10-2 run to grab the lead. Rusch opened the streak with a three-point play and ended it with a three-point shot for a 41-37 Eagles lead. However, Loras College (1-0) answered with a 14-2 run later in the half, capped by a three-point play by Justin VanWambeke with 7:39 left to play for a 65-57 Duhawks lead.
However, Edgewood College started rolling again, sparked by a driving layup by Emilio Lopez. Tal Diekvoss followed with three free throws, following a foul on his three-point attempt and the Eagles were back in business. Rusch drilled a three from the top of the key and Trevor Neale scored back-to-back buckets to put the Eagles ahead 75-68 with just 2:32 to go.
The Duhawks had just enough for one last spurt. Schueller hit a three-pointer following a Loras timeout to bring the Duhawks withing 75-71. Grcic scored on the next possession to cut the Eagles lead to two. Loras fouled Lopez with 21 seconds left, but Lopez hit just one of two free throws for a 76-73 lead. On the next possession Schueller drilled another three-pointer with eight seconds left to tie the game. The Eagles gave the ball to Rusch, but the senior guard couldn't manufacture a shot and the game went to overtime.
Edgewood College scored the first basket of overtime on a layup by Neale, and Dylan Heemstra scored a bank shot to put the Eagles ahead 80-79, but that would be their last lead of the game. Schueller hit another three-point basket and Grcic scored five free throws for an 89-82 lead, renedering Lopez's basket at the final buzzer meaningless.
Rusch poured in 23 points on 9-for-21 shooting to lead four Eagles in double figures. Neale established a new career-high with 18 points and nine rebounds. Diekvoss hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with 13 points. Jake Heuer scored 12 points, shared the team-lead in rebounds with Neale with nine boards, and had a team-high four assists. Edgewood College turned the ball over, just seven times in the game.
Loras College received a monster game from Grcic who finished with 34 points on 11-for-17 shooting and a massive 26 rebounds. Schueller went 6-for-7 from the three-point line and finished with 20 points. VanWambeke came off the bench for 14 points. The Duhawks shot 50 percent (30-for-60) from the field in the game.
Edgewood College will stay at home for their next game as well. The Eagles will welcome UW-Oshkosh to the Edgedome on Tuesday night for a 7:00 tipoff. Like all games this season, Tuesday's contest can be seen live on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com
