WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – Edgewood College was up 13 against undefeated Carroll University with just over 10 minutes left in the second half Tuesday night as part of the Just A Game Tournament but let its lead slip away in the final minutes. The Pioneers (8-0) went on an 11-3 run over the final 4:05 to keep their record unscathed while the Eagles fell to 1-9.
Edgewood College junior guard Spencer Barnes hit a three-pointer to go up 53-47 with 4:24 remaining but the Eagles would hit just one more shot—an Adam Freitag triple in the closing seconds—the rest of the way while turning it over twice.
After Barnes knocked down the three-pointer to go up six the Pioneers would score on their next three possessions to go up 54-53 with 2:52 left. Following a stretch where neither team could capitalize, the Pioneers finally got their next shot to fall with 18 seconds left after Bryan Nagy converted on a layup.
Carroll's Ben Widdes then hit two free throws in the final seconds before Freitag knocked down the final basket of the game.
The Eagles led by nine at halftime after holding the Pioneers to a 26.9 percent field goal percentage (7-of-26), including a 1-of-11 showing from beyond the arc. Despite being outscored by 11 in the second half, the Eagles still shot 44.0 percent (11-of-25) after the break and nailed five three-pointers.
Edgewood College's post players played strong defensively in holding the Pioneers to just 18 points in the paint. Offensively, the Eagles shot at least 40 percent from the field for the third-straight game and their fourth of their last five. Their 12 turnovers was their second-fewest in a single game all season.
Freitag returned to scoring in double figures after leading the team with 15 points while draining all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. Tyler Lemke turned in just the second 10-point game of his young career after finishing with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Barnes hit a pair of trey balls and finished with eight while Arik Anderson chipped in with seven.
The Eagles will wrap up the Just A Game Tournament against some stiff competition on Wednesday. They will square off against top-ranked Augustana at 5 pm. The No. 1 Vikings narrowly escaped UW-Oshkosh on Tuesday after squeaking out a 67-65 win.
