AURORA, Ill. - Edgewood College played right with second-place Aurora University for the first 35 minutes and hit a school-record 15 three-pointers at Thornton Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, but the Spartans' high-flying offense really clicked into gear in the closing moments. The Eagles trailed by three at halftime and were only four points down with seven minutes left but fell 103-90. Freshman point guard Sy Staver also tied a school record with 17 assists in the game.
Aurora—a team that sits behind only undefeated and third-ranked Benedictine University in the NACC standings—struggled early on shooting and was forced to play catch-up throughout most of the first half.
Edgewood College led for the first eight and a half minutes of the game until Joran LaGrone hit a three-pointer on an assist from Matt Dunn with 11:23 left in the first to go up 17-16. Minutes later, Spencer Barnes and McClain Steffens hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it 29-23 Eagles with 6:45 left.
Aurora would go on a 14-5 run to end the half as the Eagles converted on only one field goal over the final four minutes of the period. The Spartans outshot the Eagles 40.5 percent to 35.3 percent despite going only 1-of-15 from downtown in the half.
Aurora continued its run into the second half and started on a 14-4 run to go up 51-38 with 16:59 left on the clock. Adam Freitag would hit a jumper on the next possession to get the Eagles back into a scoring routine. That's when junior guard Arik Anderson went off. The Elkhorn, Wis., native nailed three-pointers on four of the next five possessions over just a 1:58 span.
Anderson's last triple in that span brought the Eagles to within 58-52 with 13:37 left. Jim Bridges hit a layup and Tyler Westrick hit one of his three triples on the night two possessions later and suddenly the Eagles were within one with 11:47 remaining.
A conventional three-point play from Adam Freitag at the 7:02 mark brought the Eagles to within four with 7:02 left, but it was all Spartans from there on out as they led by at least eight points over the final 6:09.
All 19 of Anderson's points came in the second half and he finished 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. He played just six minutes in the first half and didn't attempt a shot before exploding in the second. Freitag (17) and Emil Radisevic (16) also paced the Eagles offense on a night in which they scored 90 for the first time since Senior Night last season in a 96-94 overtime win over the Spartans. Sy Staver tied a 27-year old Edgewood College men's basketball record with 17 assists in the game. The record was first set by Eric Nelson against Dyke College (Ohio) on March 10, 1989.
Edgewood College's previous school record for three-pointers was 13. They accomplished that feat on Feb. 27, 1996 at Lakeland College. Today the Eagles finished 15-of-39 (38.5 percent) from deep.
The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 3 with a 7 pm matchup against Lakeland College at the Edgedome.
