Balanced Attack Leads Warriors Past Eagles

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) – Five players scored in double figures to lead the Wisconsin Lutheran College men's basketball team to an 80-72 win over visiting Edgewood Saturday afternoon inside the Recreation Complex. The Warriors won their fourth straight game en route to their best start in conference play since joining the NACC in 2006-2007.

• Final Score: Wisconsin Lutheran 80, Edgewood 72
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (8-3, 5-1 NACC), Edgewood (3-8, 2-4 NACC)
• Location: Recreation Complex, Milwaukee, Wis.

• The Eagles offense found success in the paint early, driving for a pair of layups and an early 6-2 lead. A pair of threes from seniors Andrew Bruggink (Brookfield, Wis.) and Colin Biesterfeld (West Bend, Wis.) tied the game at 8-8 apiece. A couple minutes later sophomore Alex VanCrete (Green Lake, Wis.) converted a three-point play to give the Warriors their first lead at 13-10.
• With the game knotted at 17-17 with under 10 minutes to play in the first half, the Warriors used four layups, a pair each from sophomore Drew Bernhagen (Markesan, Wis.) and senior Andrew Wojcik (Brookfield, Wis.) to gain a 25-17 advantage.
• Wisconsin Lutheran extended its lead to 11 points at 33-22 with just over three minutes remaining in the half as VanCrete gathered an offensive rebound and completed the put back.
• Edgewood closed the gap back to four at the break, knocking down a three-pointer as time expired to make the score 36-32.
• Four minutes into the second half, the Eagles took a 44-42 lead after a three from the top of the arc. Bernhagen answered with a three of his own from the wing to regain the lead for WLC. Sophomore Zach Zuleger (West Bend, Wis.) followed with a hook shot in the paint to extend the lead back up to three.
• With the Warriors holding onto a one-point lead at 55-54 and just over eight minutes remaining, junior Randy Johnson Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis.) found VanCrete for a fast break layup and a foul. VanCrete converted the free throw to complete the three-point play.
• Wojcik knocked down a big step-back three with six minutes to play to give WLC a 65-60 lead. After a strong possession on the defensive end, Bruggink finished strong in the paint to push the lead back to seven. Johnson Jr. capped the 8-0 run with a triple from the corner to give the Green and White a 10-point lead with four to play.
• The final minutes of the game saw the Warriors make multiple trips to the free throw line, as Zuleger, VanCrete, and Biesterfeld converted a total of seven free throws to close out an 80-72 victory.

• The Warriors offense featured five players reaching double-digits, led by 18 from VanCrete. Wojcik (13), Zuleger (12), Bruggink (11), and Biesterfeld (10) also reached double figures as WLC shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) from the floor and 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from three.
• VanCrete's 11 rebounds paced the team and gave him a double-double, while Wojcik finished with a team-high four assists.
• Wisconsin Lutheran scored over half its points in the paint, out-scoring the Eagles 44-32 in that category. The Warriors also finished with 17 points off turnovers after forcing the Eagles to commit 15 turnovers.
• WLC, which won its second straight over Edgewood, also out-scored the visitors in bench points, 27-16.

• Jake Negus led the way for the Eagles, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
• Negus also finished with seven rebounds and seven assists to pace the Eagles in all three categories.
• Avery Lyons added 11 points as Edgewood finished shooting 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor and 42.1 percent (8-of-17) from three.

• Wisconsin Lutheran travels to Illinois Tech (4-7, 2-4 NACC) on Tuesday for a matchup with the Scarlet Hawks. Tip-off from Chicago is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Links to live stats and video will be available at WLCSports.com.