Edgewood, which entered the week tied with Concordia University for first place in the LMC, earned the conference title outright after Milwaukee School of Engineering defeated the Falcons roughly eight miles across town. It is the Eagles first LMC regular season title since 2000-01.
“It was one of the best team games that we’ve played this year, on both ends of the court,” said head coach Steve Larson following Monday’s game against the Warriors. “We were very unselfish on the offensive end and played with a lot of heart and grit on the defensive side. We were able to bounce back each time we got down, which I thought showed great character.”
Forwards Seth Cooper and Charlie Averkamp each tallied a double-double for the Eagles. Cooper finished with 18 points in addition to a game-high 11 rebounds and six assists, while Averkamp scored 19 points and grabbed 10 boards. Greg Blaska also scored 19 points, on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Kyle Scott netted 12 points off of the bench and had some clutch free throws to ice the game near the end.
Despite going 3-of-16 from three-point range, it was a good night shooting overall for the Eagles, who shot just under 50 percent (30-of-61) as a team. They turned the ball over just five times and out-rebounded the Warriors 43-36.
The Eagles held a slim 38-37 lead at halftime following a first half that saw six ties and seven different lead changes. The second half started out as tight as the first. Brian Hagel nailed a three pointer to put Wisconsin Lutheran up by one, 49-48, with 13:57 left to play. But Edgewood responded with a 10-0 run, highlighted by a pair of threes by Scott, to give the Eagles a 58-49 cushion near the midway point of the second half.
Kevin Christensen, who scored a game-high 26 points, sank a three pointer with 9:11 remaining to pull Wisconsin Lutheran back to within three. The Eagles again retaliated, this time with an 11-2 run, to take their largest lead of the game, 71-59, with just under five minutes on the clock. Although they never hit another field goal, Edgewood went on to seal the victory by making nine of 12 shots from the foul line.
As the No. 1 seed, Edgewood receives a first-round bye in the LMC Tournament, which begins this Thursday, Feb. 17. The Eagles will host the winner of No. 4 Lakeland College versus No. 5 Marian College on Saturday, Feb. 19. Game time is set for 3 p.m. The loser of Saturday’s second round contest is eliminated from the tournament, while the winner will advance to the tournament championship game, hosted by the highest seed, on Saturday, Feb. 26.