Even behind 15 first-half points, including three three-pointers, by sophomore Ryan Johnsen, Dominican managed to go into the half with a 10-point lead with the help of four three-pointers from guard Ivano Clay.
The Stars continued to stay hot as they came out firing in the second half and increased their lead to 19 points until Edgewood went on an 11-0 run, slicing the margin to eight.
"The most important thing was our attitude," said forward Charlie Averkamp. "We really got after it after being down 19 in the second half, and we started playing aggressively."
Edgewood continued its comeback as they cut the Stars’ lead down to two points following a three-pointer by Seth Cooper with nine minutes left to play.
"I knew that we could beat them if we played hard, but we didn't seem to have a sense of urgency." said Cooper. "But once we picked that up, I knew we could beat them."
Edgewood took its first lead since early in the first half when Averkamp scored two of his team-high 26 points with 4:39 remaining. Averkamp, who scored 20 or more points for the sixth time this season, was held to just six points in the first half.
"I was kind of disappointed with my play in the first half." said Averkamp. "I kind of got hurt on that first play and didn't say anything about it, but I came out in the second half and wanted to play hard."
Dominican then went cold from the floor as they failed on three three-pointers, which kept the Eagles ahead by one. With Edgewood in the bonus, the Eagles sent Cooper to the line twice in the final 20 seconds, where he made all four foul shots. Cooper went 10-of-13 from the foul line and finished with 19 points for the game.
"At the end of the game, I like to get to the free-throw line, because I feel confident." said Cooper. "I started off this season struggling from the free-throw line and some of the guys on the team have been talking trash, but the last 10-12 games I've been shooting the ball well."
With six seconds remaining in the game, Dominican's Erin McMillan launched up a three-point attempt, but he missed and the ball was rebounded by Dominican's Mike Haiduc, who failed on the putback attempt. The rebound was grabbed by Edgewood freshman Jon Ciche. However, Ciche was called for traveling, which gave Dominican another opportunity with under one second remaining in the game. Dominican fired a desperation shot which fell short and handed Edgewood a 73-70 victory.
The win gives Edgewood sole possession of third place in the Lake Michigan Conference and leaves them three games behind conference leader Lakeland College, who has four conference games remaining.
The Eagles will be back in action this Saturday, Jan. 28 at home against two-time defending national champion UW-Stevens Point. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. The game will be broadcast on Relevant Radio 1240 AM in Madison. Live streaming audio will also be available on www.EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.