STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Edgewood College men's basketball team had the challenge of facing the nation's No. 1 team, UW-Stevens Point on the road. The Eagles played tough in the first half, and only trailed by seven points at halftime. However, the Pointers shot the lights out in the second half and cruised to a 84-49 victory.

The first half was played very tight, with four ties and 10 lead changes. UW-Stevens Point (4-0) grabbed the first lead at 2-0 before the Eagles tied the score on a pair of Ben Wisniewski free throws. Derek Nkemnji gave Edgewood College (2-3) their first lead of the contest, at 9-8 with 15:44 remaining when he connected on a three-point shot.

After a Jerrrel Harris layup, Cashton Craig drilled a three-point basket to give the Eagles their largest lead of the game, 12-10. Kent Faurote put the Eagles ahead again at 18-16 when he drilled a jump shot before Adam Abegglen put the Pointers ahead with a three-point basket. However, Nkemnji answered with his second and final three-point basket of the contest to give the Eagles a 21-19 lead.

Trailing by three with just under eight minutes to play in the first half, Jeff Barczak got the Eagles within one point with a layup and Faurote gave Edgewood College their final lead of the game at 25-24 with 5:36 left in the first half.

The Pointers then scored 11 of the final 14 points of the first half, capped by a Louis Hurd jump shot with 45 seconds left.

UW-Stevens Point kept that momentum rolling in the second half, scoring 16 of the first 19 points, including the first seven points of the half. Nkemnji got the Eagles on the board in the second frame with a layup at the 16:38 mark and the Pointers outscored the Eagles 49-21 in the second frame, en route to a 84-49 victory.

In the second half, the Pointers shot 100 percent (9-for-9) from three-point range and 75 percent from the floor (18-for-24). In all, UW-Stevens Point shot a blistering 65.3 percent (32-for-49) from the floor and 84.6 percent (11-for-13) from distance. Hurd led three Pointers in double figures with 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting.

Nkemnji and Craig led the Eagles with 12 points apiece while Michael Gehring grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Edgewood College shot 35.4 percent (17-for-48) from the floor for the game and 33.3 percent (4-for-12) from behind the arc. Nkemnji and Craig were the only two Eagles to make a three-point basket, each going 2-for-4 from deep.

Edgewood College will open Northern Athletics Conference play on Tuesday when they travel to Marian University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Sadoff Gymnasium.