MADISON, Wis. – Tuesday night's contest seemed all too familiar to the Edgewood College men's basketball team. Similar to the two teams' earlier meeting this season, the Eagles led by a point at halftime but could not overcome second half shooting woes and fell to Lakeland College. This time around, Edgewood College only managed six second half field goals and suffered a 73-56 defeated to the Muskies in the Edgedome.
The Eagles (4-13, 3-5 NAC) kicked off the game on the right foot, forcing a turnover which turned into a basket by Justin Williams for the early lead. Five minutes later, with the Muskies leading 11-7, Edgewood College tore off seven straight points including five from Joe Klocek. Lakeland (15-2, 8-0 NAC) came back to take the lead 21-16 at the 9:24 mark but back-to-back three pointers by Michael Janusek and Tal Diekvoss put the Eagles in front. After the fifth tie of the half, Williams converted a free throw and then hit his first triple of the season, pushing the Eagles ahead by four. Again Lakeland roared back and stole the lead with consecutive three-pointers by the Muskies' James Oshkeshequoam but Edgewood College used five points from Trevor Neale and a pair of free throws by Dylan Rusch to head into the locker room with a 37-36 advantage.
Brett Meinecke and Klocek combined for six points to begin the half, but were quickly silenced by Lakeland College. From that point with the score tied at 42, the Muskies turned up the pressure and held the Eagles scoreless for nine straight minutes while piling on 16 points. During that stretch, Edgewood College missed 15 consecutive shots. Williams was finally able to break the streak with a jumper at the 9:33 mark, but the Muskies rattled off eight more points to take a 66-44 lead. For the remaining six minutes of the game, Edgewood College could only manage two more field goals and suffered a 17-point loss.
Despite shooting 44.4 percent from the field in the first half and hitting six triples, the Eagles were swarmed by the Muskies defense and only managed to hit 6 of 34 attempts (17.6 percent) after the break. Edgewood College was outrebounded 41-30 but only committed 11 turnovers while forcing 19 Lakeland mistakes.
Klocek led the Eagles with 10 points and six rebounds, followed by Williams who pulled down five boards and posted eight points. Janusek, Meinecke, and Rusch all connected for six points each.
Edgewood College hosts Concordia University Wisconsin on Thursday in hopes of getting back on track with a victory. Live stats and live video will be available. Fans will be able to find links on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.