After being down by 11 in the first half, the Eagles went on a 13-0 run capped by a Seth Cooper lay-up to give them a two point lead with just over ten minutes remaining in the first period. The Warriors climbed back out to a four point lead with just over two minutes remaining when Eddie Hebl banked a three-pointer in as the shot-clock expired to bring the Eagles to within one. But the Warriors fought back as Lewis Jiles hit a three-pointer with a minute left in the first half to extend the Warrior lead to six. And after a Cooper lay-up, Wisconsin Lutheran went into the half with a four point lead.
With under a minute left remaining in regulation, Charlie Averkamp added two of his 15 points, and gave the Eagles a two point lead. However, the Warriors Micah Biesterveld matched the score as he scored on a lay-up with 38 seconds remaining. Cooper settled for the last shot in regulation and after missing, he grabbed his own offensive rebound and was sent to the free-throw line where he was successful on both giving Edgewood a two point lead. But with five seconds remaining in the second period, Biesterveld again tied the score after nailing a five-foot jumper and sent the game into over-time.
With the Eagles leading in over-time by the score of 78-76, the Warrior’s Micah Biesterveld struck again when he hit a three-pointer with 1:15 left on the game clock to give Wisconsin Lutheran the one point lead. The Eagles then turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and failed to get a rebound on two Warrior misses which led to a foul that sent Stefan Spath to the line where he converted on both free-throw attempts to give the Warriors a three point lead with 20 seconds remaining in over-time. The Eagles couldn’t force another tie as they failed to convert on either of their two three-point attempts in the final seconds of the game as Spath was again sent to the line where he was successful on both which gave the Warriors the five point victory.
Edgewood was led in scoring by Cooper who had 22 points and also added seven assists. Averkamp collected his eighth double-double of the season by scoring 15 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures was Hebl who added 10 points of his own as well as tallying four assists.
With the loss Edgewood is given the #4 seed in the Lake Michigan Conference tournament where they will host Dominican University on Thursday, Feb. 16th with a scheduled tip-off time of 7 p.m. Live steaming audio will be available at www.EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com