MADISON, Wis. - Senior Travis Kell dominated from the outset, and scored his 1000th career point with 6:55 to go in leading the Edgewood College men's basketball team to a 70-57 win over Concordia Chicago on Valentine's Day. Kell scored 630 of his points in his first three years at Lakeland and 270 this season with the Eagles.
Kell notched his team-leading sixth double-double of the year after pulling down 12 boards and led four Eagles in double figures. Jake Negus added 14 points and six boards, Emil Radisevic posted 12 points and seven rebounds, and Tyler Lemke tallied 11 points with seven boards. It was a total team effort for a squad that closed the game on a 23-7 run and swept Concordia Chicago for the first time since the 2013-14 season
The Eagles (9-15, 9-10 NACC) led for the first six minutes of the second half, but saw it disappear after the Cougars (2-22, 1-18 NACC) went on a 10-3 run to take a 50-47 lead with 11:49 to go. Senior Arik Anderson, playing in his second-to-last game in the red and white, hit the game-tying 3-pointer that sparked a 14-3 run and put the Eagles in front for good. Kell tallied six of the Eagles next 11 points and capped the decisive stretch with a turnaround lefty hook in the paint that gave him his 1000th point.
Concordia Chicago added a pair of baskets late, but the Eagles still outscored the Cougars 23-7 over the final 12 minutes to win.
Kell was on a mission out of the gate, scoring from a myriad of angles in the paint and knocking down his lefty jumper as he posted 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field in the first half. He also had three assists in staking the Eagles to a 34-31 halftime advantage despite the Eagles 1-for-11 effort from behind the arc.
Mitch Pellisier, the NACC's second-leading scorer, posted a game-high 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and added three assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes to lead the Cougars. No other player had more than six points for one of the league's best offenses.
The Eagles outscored the Cougars, 12-5, at the free throw line in a game where both teams combined to shoot 6 of 30 (20 percent) from deep.
Next up is the Eagles season finale against NACC-leading Benedictine at home this Saturday, February 17 at 2:00 p.m. Benedictine saw their 8-game winning streak come to an end in an 85-77 loss at Wisconsin Lutheran on Wednesday. The Eagles still have a shot at the No. 6 seed in the NACC tournament with a win over Benedictine and a Marian loss.