MADISON, Wis. – Edgewood College is certainly making its case for one of the team's to watch out for in the NACC in the near future. In another close contest against a team in the top half of the league, the Eagles came up just short of an upset bid against Concordia Wisconsin Wednesday at the Edgedome. Emil Radisevic tallied his first career double-double but the Eagles couldn't close one out in a 74-70 loss.
The Falcons (15-9, 13-6 NACC) led by no more than five points in the entire game until Malcolm Bowers nailed two free throws to go up 69-63 with just 1:07 left in the contest. An Adam Freitag jumper on the next trip brought it back to a four-point game.
Eric Kittel, who finished with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting for the Falcons, then went to the line and hit his first but missed the second. Josh Erickson snagged the offensive board on the miss but was off the mark on the put back. Edgewood College's Emil Radisevic grabbed his 15th and final board of the night on the miss and went to the free throw line on the next possession.
He missed the first but hit the second to make it 70-66 with 23 seconds left. Kittel then went 1-for-2 at the line again and Freitag returned and knocked one down to make it a one possession game at 71-68 with 0:17 left on the clock.
The Falcons, who finished with 20 fast break points on the night, came flying down on the next possession and Bowers sent one home on a dunk to make it a five-point game again. Sy Staver, who tied for the team lead with four assists, hit a jumper with five seconds left to make it 73-70, but by then it was too late. Trevor Krizenesky made his first and missed the second but the Eagles had only a couple of seconds left before the final horn sounded.
The game featured five ties and two lead changes in an extremely tight second half. CUW stretched its lead out to five on only four occasions after halftime before the final 1:07 of play. The Eagles never had a lead after halftime but did manage to tie things at 51 with 10:04 remaining after a Radisevic jumper in the paint.
Edgewood College started the game on an 8-0 run for their largest lead of the game thanks to a Spencer Barnes triple followed by a layup and three-pointer from McClain Steffens. They held that lead until the 13:10 mark in the first half, when Kittel drained a three on an assist from Bradley Prinsen.
Freitag scored a team-high 13 points while Radisevic was strong in the post throughout and was the lone player on either side with a double-digit rebound total. Radisevic's 15 boards were seven more than his previous high. Freshman forward Sam Fox also stepped in and scored a career-high five points and hauled in three boards. Barnes was the third and final Eagles player in double figures with 11 points. He knocked down three shots from beyond the arc.
Kittel notched his second-straight 20-point game as the Falcons won their eighth conference game in a row.
Edgewood College will wrap up its season with Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 20 with a 2 pm game against Aurora University. Three Eagles seniors will be recognized prior to the game in Emilio Lopez, Dylan Heemstra and Brian Nkemnji.
