MADISON – The Edgewood College Eagles men's basketball squad hosted a Northern Collegiate Athletics Conference (NACC) showdown Saturday at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. They battled with the Marian Sabres with an eye towards the conference postseason. The Eagles (6-15, 6-7 NACC) put together a dominating performance against the Sabres (11-9, 9-4), holding the lead for 36:19 of game time in an 88-69 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Edgewood College set the tone early as a three-pointer from
Cade Ellingson followed by a layup from
Jake Schroeckenthaler led to a 5-2 lead after the opening two minutes. Marian would battle back to an 11-11 tie at 15:07. Threes would maintain the Sabres lead until
Danny Mulcare made it 18-17 with a three at 12:57.
- The Eagles went on a tear from there, putting together a strong 12-1 rally to hold their largest lead of the half 30-18 at the 8:54 mark. An 8-2 reply from Marian would close the gap to just six at 5:24, but five unanswered would push the lead back to double-digits. The Sabres were persistent, answering with an 8-2 run to cut the Edgewood College lead to 41-36 with 2:06 remaining.
- Six unanswered from the Eagles to close the half would make it a 47-36 game heading into the locker room. Edgewood College seemingly scored at will in the first frame, hitting 62.07 (18-of-29) percent of their shots from the field and 55.56 (5-of-9) percent from deep. The Eagles bench made the difference in the half as they scored 11 points to Marian's none.
- Edgewood College found another gear to start the second half, piecing together a 15-0 run that started at the end of the first half with nine more points to hold a commanding 56-36 lead. The Eagles' advantage would never shrink below 19 and grew to as much as 24 points as they kept their foot on the gas in the second half. The Sabres wouldn't find any answers for the Eagles offense as they fell 88-69.
- Schroeckenthaler played arguably his best game of the season, posting 32 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals in an impressive performance. He also finished 6-of-6 from the free throw line and 13-of-15 from the field.
- Three other Edgewood College players finished in double figures.
Caden Nelson's 14 points and nine assists fell just shy of a double-double. Ellingson and Mulcare tallied 10 points each.
Drew Houtakker did a bit of everything with six points, six rebounds, and two blocked shots.
- Tyler Gouin shined in defeat for Marian, finishing with 27 points and giving the Eagles defense everything they could handle.
- Edgewood College hummed on all cylinders as a squad. Their 61.4 (35-of-57) percent shooting from the floor was one of their best performances on the season, while they shot well from deep with 50 (6-of-12) shooting from beyond the arc. The Eagles' passing was impeccable as they had 26 assists to the Sabres' nine. They had 20 points off of turnovers and 56 in the paint to Marian's four and 32 respectively.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Eagles' 88 points as a team was a season high for the offense.
- Schroeckenthaler's 32 points, four assists, and three steals were all season bests. The points broke a season-high he set earlier this week against Dominican and the double-double his 12th of the season. His 13 made field goals tied for seventh all-time.
- The Eagles .614 shooting percentage was eighth on the single-game record list. Their 26 assists tied for fifth on the all-time list.
- Tyler Gouin broke the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career in the first half of the game.
- Edgewood College now holds a 49-35 series lead over the Sabres and has won five in a row to bring themselves back into the NACC playoff hunt.
UP NEXT
The Eagles start up a crucial three-game road trip next week as they head into the last two weeks of conference play. They start with a Tuesday drive down south to Lisle, Ill. to face Bendictine with tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
