MADISON, Wis. – Edgewood College put up a dominating effort that hasn't been seen at the Edgedome in over 10 years Tuesday night against Lakeland College, as the Eagles took down the Muskies 93-61 for the biggest home margin of victory since the 2002-03 season. Five Eagles finished in double figures led by Dylan Rusch's 15.
The Eagles managed to achieve some separation early by going up 13-5 not even six minutes into the contest. The Muskies, who entered the game in second place in the NACC with a 7-2 league record, bounced back from poor shooting early on and pulled within two at 18-16 with 11:00 left in the first half.
The floodgates then opened for the Eagles, as they hit two three-pointers in the next four possessions while hitting free throws on the others to open a 26-10 run that gave them a 44-26 lead at halftime. The Eagles were shooting 58.3 percent (14-of-24), including a 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) showing from deep, at that point and carried all the momentum with them into the second half.
The Eagles wasted no time exploding out of the gates in the second half. They hit nine of their first 11 field goal attempts and saw their lead balloon to 32 points after a Joe Klocek three-pointer with 12:50 remaining. It was Klocek's third three of the half and they all came within 3:05 of each other. Dylan Heemstra also chipped in a triple in that span while Rusch had three of his five assists in the stretch as well.
The Eagles continued to light it up from deep, as Matt Savatski and Tal Diekvoss hit the Eagles' 11th and 12th three-pointers of the night within one minute of each other to make it 72-41 with 10:54 remaining. The Eagles needed just one more triple to tie the single-game school record but went 0-for-5 from there on out. That didn't keep the Eagles' bench from pouring it on in the closing minutes. Trevon Ampe (14) and Joe Klocek (13) combined for 27 of the Eagles' 46 bench points on the night and eight of Ampe's came in the second half. In all, 12 Eagles registered at least one point on the night.
Head coach Justin Meyer's preparation for Lakeland's high-powered offense was equally impressive. The Muskies entered the game first in the NACC in scoring at 82.6 points per game but were held to 61 on 23-of-55 shooting (41.8 percent). Derick Denny, who entered fifth in the NACC in scoring at 16.5 points per game, was held to six points on 1-for-6 shooting while Joey Burris, who entered fourth with 16.8 points per game, was held to just four points on 2-of-6 shooting. Jacob Servais (14) and Brandon James (10) were the lone Muskies in double figures on the night.
It was the largest home win since a 93-55 win over Concordia Wisconsin on Feb. 17, 2003 and the largest win overall since Jan. 19, 2009, when the Eagles beat Maranatha Baptist 94-62 on the road. Rusch got his game-high 15 points on a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the field while Ampe was 4-for-7. Klocek wound up 4-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc while Tal Diekvoss was 4-for-6 from three-point range for 12 points. Dylan Heemstra was the fifth and final Eagle to finish in double figures, as the junior went 3-for-4 and hit two deep balls to finish with 10 points.
The Eagles are now tied for fourth in the NACC with a conference record of 7-4 but are only a half game out of second place. The next time the Eagles will attempt to move up further in the NACC standings will come on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Marian. The game will take place at Sadoff Gymnasium in Fond du Lac, Wis., and will start at 7 pm.
