LISLE, Ill. – Despite a balanced attack and a team-high 18 points from Tyler Lemke, the Edgewood College men's basketball team struggled against the size and length of No. 14 Benedictine in their 77-59 road loss on Saturday afternoon. 

The Eagles (2-5, 2-3 NACC) hung with the NACC's only nationally ranked team in nearly every statistical category, but were outdone by Benedictine, 40-16, in points in the paint and 45-26 in rebounds. Led by Adam Reynolds' 14 points and 14 boards, Benedictine's size and length advantage played a factor with six of their top-8 players at 6-4 or taller. 

Behind seven scorers and six points from McClain Steffens, the Eagles held Benedictine (6-2, 4-0 NACC) to under 37 percent shooting and trailed, 32-24, at the break. As the Benedictine lead started slipping away, Spencer Barnes drilled a three to cut the Benedictine advantage down to 52-42 at the nine-minute mark. A 10-point run by Benedictine broke the game open as the visiting Eagles would come no closer than 15 points down the stretch.

Lemke scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half while battling it out with Benedictine's All-American, Tahron Harvey, who came off the bench and posted 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final period. Lemke shot a season-best 8-of-11 from the field in 20 minutes and was one of three starters, including two posts, who finished with four or more fouls.

The visiting Eagles shot 42.9 percent from the field and featured four players in double-digits for the third-straight game.

Next up for the Eagles is their second matchup with Concordia Chicago on the road this Saturday, December 17 at 4:15 p.m. The Eagles defeated the Cougars, 85-75, at home on December 3.