Edgewood trailed by as many as 27 points late in the first half. Benedictine rattled off 18 consecutive points during a scoreless drought by the Eagles that lasted over seven minutes. Benedictine, which shot nearly 60 percent (16-of-27) from the floor in the first half, led 40-15 at halftime. The Eagles, who took just as many shots as their opponent, connected on just six first half field goals.
Back-to-back three point baskets by Charlie Averkamp and Seth Cooper gave Edgewood some early momentum coming out of the locker room, as the Eagles began the second half with a 9-0 run. The Eagles were on the verge of cutting the deficit to single digits on numerous occasions within the last 10 minutes of the contest. However, Benedictine was able to hold off the late surge to win its fourth straight game.
Cooper scored a game-high 17 points, including a trio of three pointers, and Averkamp tallied his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Kuhnau added 10 points.
Benedictine was led by 16 points from Matt Harrison. Will Crawford and Zach Ramey followed with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Crawford also pulled down nine rebounds. Benedictine turned the ball over 23 times compared to 15 miscues by the Eagles, 11 of which occurred in the first half.
Edgewood will host Eureka College in the second and final game of the LMC-NIIC Challenge at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 29. Benedictine will travel to Milwaukee School of Engineering.