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MADISON, Wis. - The Northern Athletics Conference Tournament got off to a wild start on Tuesday night at the Edgedome. Edgewood College used a 31-7 run spanning both halves, but still had to fight off a hailstorm of three-point shots late in the game to defeat Rockford College 94-84. With the win, the Eagles advance to semifinal match on Thursday at Benedictine University and reach 20 victories for the first time since 1994-95.

Third-seeded Edgewood College (20-6) opened up a 17-10 thanks in large part to three straight three-pointers from Cashton Craig, Jake Guziewski and Ben Wisniewski. Rockford rallied back and took the lead at 24-23 on a three-point shot by Dominique Walker. The Eagles trailed by two at 30-28 after a Danny Fair jumper for sixth-seeded Rockford College (12-14), before Edgewood College went on their run.

Derek Nkemnji started the streak with a bucket and pair of free throws, before Kent Faurote hit a three-point bucket. Two minutes later, Faurote ignited the crowd with a three-point shot to beat the shot clock buzzer and Wisniewski followed with two free throws with one second left on the clock to secure a 12-1 Eagle run. However, that was only a prelude to the show in the second half.

Craig opened the half with a three-pointer on the first possession and the Eagles caught fire. After Craig's triple, Wisniewski, Nkemnji, Faurote and Joe Klocek combined to make the Eagles' next seven shots from the field. Klocek then sunk a free throw with 13 minutes left in the game to complete a 19-6 run and open up the Eagles' largest lead of the game at 59-37.

After Rockford got as close as 12 points, the Eagles responded by pushing the lead back up to 82-60, with the final two points coming on a Justin Williams tip-in with 3:35 left to play. It seemed the Eagles had the game well in control, but that was the point Rockford College caught fire from the three-point line. Alen McVeigh and Daryl Watkins nailed three-point shots followed by Paul Hall converting a three-pointer, a steal and another three-pointer in a span of 10 seconds. At that point Rockford had cut the lead to 88-78 with just less than a minute to play.

Wisniewski converted three of four free throws, but Walker hit a pair of circus three-pointers to get Rockford even closer at 91-84. Finally, Michael Janusek ended the comeback attempt with three free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Wisniewski, the reigning NAC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week, cracked 20 points for the third straight game, scoring 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Faurote had 14 of his 18 points in the first half and shot 6-for-10 from the field. Nkemnji matched season-highs in two categories with 17 points and eight rebounds. Faurote also had eight rebounds to lead the Eagles. Edgewood College shot a stunning 72.7 percent (16-for-22) in the second half and finished the game at 58.3 percent.

Edgewood College's 20 wins are the most the Eagles have had under head coach Todd Adrian, and match the school record for most wins since becoming an NCAA program in the 1994-95 academic year.

The win puts Edgewood College into a NAC Tournament semifinal game against second-seeded Benedictine University (13-13) on Thursday night in Lisle, Ill. Last season ended for the Eagles at Benedictine University in the NAC Tournament championship game. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m. and links to the live broadcast will be available at EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.