MADISON, Wis. – Fans who came to the Edgedome on Saturday night definitely got their money's worth. At times, the men's game between Edgewood College and Wisconsin Lutheran seemed like a three-point shootout with a combined 22 made triples. Dylan Rusch poured in a career-high 26 points and the Eagles got the better of the two teams as Edgewood College cashed in 53.8 percent of their shots in a 78-66 victory over the Warriors.
The Eagles (6-16, 5-8 NAC) got off to a shaky start, missing their first five buckets before Craig Cashton nailed a triple, tying the contest at three. With 14:29 remaining, Rusch knocked down his first points of the game to give the Eagles a 9-5 lead. WLC's Tim Demuth cut Edgewood College's lead to one after a three-pointer, but Tal Diekvoss responded with a triple of his own, putting the Eagles back up by four. Rusch then hit consecutive three-pointers, putting Edgewood College up 20-13 with just over 11 minutes to play. Wisconsin Lutheran cut their deficit to four but Jake Heuer got on the board with a three-pointer. Brett Meinecke and Rusch then combined to score the next eight points, pushing the Eagles' lead to double digits. With time winding down, and Edgewood College running one more play before half, Diekvoss pulled up for a jumper. The ball bounced off the front of the rim, but Heuer was there to tip it in at the buzzer, giving Edgewood College a 36-27 lead heading into the locker room.
The Eagles hit seven triples in the first half alone, while holding the Warriors to four from deep. Even though Edgewood College held the advantage in three-pointers, the Eagles also outscored the Warriors in the paint 12-6.
Again, Edgewood College started slow in the half as Wisconsin Lutheran used a 17-5 run to cut their deficit to one. With just under ten minutes to play, Edgewood College began to heat up and used their own 13-1 run which put the Eagles up by 16. Justin Williams helped Edgewood College put an exclamation point on their run as he slammed down a dunk which put the crowd to their feet. From that point on, Wisconsin Lutheran's only chance to get back into the game was with three-pointers and fouls, but Edgewood College played good defense and knocked down all of their free throw attempts, giving the Eagles their first win against a team from Wisconsin since December 6.
Rusch was the star of the Eagles' highlight-reel game, hitting six three-pointers which tied for second in Edgewood College history and the most since Craig hit six a season ago. Along with Rusch's 9-for-12 shooting night, the sophomore dished out a season-high six assists and grabbed three rebounds.
Overshadowed by Rusch's big night was Meinecke who netted 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor. Joe Klocekgrabbed 10 boards to go along with nine points while Williams came off the bench to score eight and pile up seven rebounds.
The Eagles shot an impressive 53.8 percent from the field against Wisconsin Lutheran including pouring in a season-high 12 three-pointers on 12-for-23 shooting from deep. Edgewood College shot 71.4 percent in the second half on 15-for-21 shooting, which helped the Eagles seal the game. Another big story in the game was Edgewood College's bench scoring as the Eagles got 60 points from non-starters compared to the Warriors' 10.
Wisconsin Lutheran was led by Demuth who cashed in 21 points in a losing effort while Sam Kuehl and Nate Bauer had 15 and 14 points, respectively.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 4-1 against the NAC South Division. Next up for Edgewood College is North Division rival Marian University this Wednesday. Tipoff for this game will be at 7:00 p.m. from the Edgedome in Madison. Live stats and live video will be available with links found on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.