MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Edgewood College men's basketball team led virtually wire-to-wire in an impressive road victory at Wisconsin Lutheran College. The Eagles built a double-digit first half lead and then held off every threat the Warriors had in taking a 72-68 victory. With the win, Edgewood College exceeds last year's victory total.
Wisconsin Lutheran College (8-8, 6-6 NACC) scored the first basket of the game, but Adam Freitag answered with a three-pointer to put give the Eagles a lead they would never relinquish. Edgewood College (4-11, 4-6 NACC) built their largest lead of the game at 33-21 following a Spencer Barnes three-point basket with 4:54 remaining in the first half. The Warriors would stay close, however, finishing the half on a 9-0 run to trail the Eagles just 33-30 at halftime.
In the second half, Wisconsin Lutheran cut the Eagles lead to three points or less on five separate occasions, but each time Edgewood College turned them away. The biggest threat came with 5:10 remaining when WLC's Collin Kennedy scored a layup to trim the Eagles' lead to 61-60. But Freitag scores a pair of jumpers, and Sy Staver split the defense for a layup to push the Eagles margin back to seven points.
The Warriors would get back to 67-64, but Freitag made four free throws down the stretch and WLC misfired on a three-point shot with five seconds left to guarantee the Eagles' victory.
Freitag led all scorers with 19 points, including 13 in the second half. Tyler Lemke did most of his damage in the first half, with 10 of his 14 points coming before halftime. Emil Radisevic was the third Eagle in double figures with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Staver finished the game with a season-high eight assists. Kyle Geiger came off the bench to score nine points. Edgewood College shot 45.8 percent and committed only 10 turnovers.
Wisconsin Lutheran received double-doubles from both Kennedy and Tyler De Young. Kennedy had 17 points and 16 rebounds, while De Young had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Tanner Schieve also had 17 points. The Warriors held the advantage in most statistical categories, but were hampered by a 35.2 percent shooting night.
With the win Edgewood College is within a half-game of the sixth and final NACC Tournament spot. The Eagles will play on back-to-back days this weekend, with a road game at Dominican University on Saturday, and another at Concordia University Chicago on Sunday.
