MADISON, Wis. – The Edgewood College men's basketball team was primed to claim their second straight NACC road win to start the conference season, but Benedictine University had other ideas. Benedictine used a 17-2 run midway through the second half to claim a 63-53 victory over Edgewood College on Saturday afternoon.
Dylan Heemstra gave Edgewood College (1-4, 1-1 NACC) a 5-4 lead with a three-pointer early in the game and the Eagles would lead all the way to halftime. Joe Klocek scored on a jumper with just under 12 minutes to play to give the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 17-10. Benedictine University (3-1, 2-0 NACC) would cut the margin down to one point, but a layup by Emilio Lopez gave Edgewood College a 27-24 lead going into the locker room.
However, Benedictine University received buckets from Tim Reamer and Michael Blaszczyk to open the second half and take their first lead in neatly 20 minutes of playing time. Benedictine's lead would be as large as three points, but a trio of three-pointers by Tal Diekvoss kept Edgewood College in the ball game. A Heemstra layup would off an assists by Spencer Barnes put Edgewood College back ahead 43-39 with 10 minutes to play, but Benedictine would seize control of the game.
Edgewood College missed their next eight shots from the field, while Benedictine built a 56-45 lead. The final blows were back-to-back three-pointers from Blasczcyk and Tim McGinty, with 3:53 left to play. Derek Braucht put Edgewood College back on track with a three-pointer and two free throws, to get the Eagles within six points at 56-50, but that was as close as Edgewood College would get. Benedictine made seven of eight free throw attempts in the last 75 seconds to hold off Edgewood College.
Diekvoss led Edgewood College with 16 points with the help of four three-pointers. Dylan Rusch and Braucht had nine points apiece. Klocek pulled down six rebounds to lead Edgewood College on the glass. The Eagles struggled from the field, shooting just 34 percent for the game.
Benedictine received 16 points from McGinty and 10 each from Blaszczyk and Adam Reynolds. Benedictine converted 43.4 percent of their shots from the field and committed just eight turnovers.
Edgewood College will return to the Edgedome on Tuesday night to host Concordia University Wisconsin. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. and the game can be viewed live on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.
