MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Edgewood College put together perhaps its hottest shooting streak in recent memory late in the first half against an MSOE team that pulled out to a huge lead early on Tuesday night at the Kern Center, but the Eagles fell flat in the second half in a 97-73 loss to the Raiders.
Down 16 with 9:39 left in the first half thanks to an 11-of-13 start for MSOE from the floor, the Eagles hit their stride and simply could not miss. McClain Steffens started the barrage with a three-pointer with 9:15 left. MSOE scored on each of its next two possessions to go back up 16 but Spencer Barnes turned in another one of his epic shooting drills from downtown.
The Anamosa, Iowa native hit three three-pointers in just a 1:41 span. After his last one in that streak that put the Eagles down three at 35-32, a Jim Bridges offensive rebound paved the way for a Sy Staver triple to tie things at 35 with 4:52 remaining. Just 3:18 prior to Staver's make the Raiders were up 16.
MSOE's Connor Patterson stopped the flurry with a layup on MSOE's next possession, but another three-pointer from Steffens and Barnes in the final minutes of the half left the Eagles down only one point at 46-45 heading into the locker room.
A 14-2 MSOE run that stretched from 16:13 mark to the 10:56 mark in the second half left the Eagles with another huge deficit. Barnes did his best to replicate the first half performance by hitting a jumper and a three-pointer immediately after that run, but the Raiders would go on to outscore the Eagles 51-28 in the half.
For the second time this season the Eagles posted 12 three-pointers, which sits just one shy of the school record which dates back to 1996. They were 10-of-20 from beyond the arc in the first half alone.
Barnes bested his career high in points by seven after dropping a team-high 23. He was 8-of-14 overall and 5-of-10 from deep. Staver tied a career high with 16 points while Steffens was a perfect 3-for-3 beyond the arc and had his first double-digit scoring effort with 12 points. Westrick had 11 and was one of four Eagles with at least a pair of three-pointers. Barnes and Staver had five helpers apiece in the effort.
MSOE wound up shooting 53.2 percent and had two players with at least 20 points in Patterson (25) and Austin Stueck (21).
Edgewood College gets right back into action on Saturday with a 2 pm matchup against Aurora. Tipoff is at Thornton Gymnasium in Aurora, Ill.
