Lockdown Defense Fuels V-Hawks Win

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Men's Basketball team defeated Edgewood College in a non-conference battle on Wednesday night. The V-Hawks improve to 4-1 on the year. The match counted as an exhibition for NCAA DIII Edgewood.

Keegan Severn scored the first four points of the match for the V-Hawks, but back-to-back threes from the Eagles gave them a 13-10 lead. After EC extended the lead to 17-11, Dakota Mannel put in a layup, then set up Jack Voigt. Stefan Popovic then hit a jumper to tie the game at 19-19. After a Luke Cervelli triple at 8:55, the V-Hawks would shut down the Eagles, not allowing them to score for the remainder of the half. In that time, Mannel scored four points, while setting up layups for Ben Olson, Voigt, and Severn. The V-Hawks led the Eagles 33-22 at the half.

Colin Adams scored to start the second, and after over 10 minutes of game time, a three from Trey Traeder ended the drought. Ben Olson scored four straight to keep the V-Hawks comfortably in the lead, and Nick Malovrh's extended the lead to 43-27 at 11:41. Cole Crubel scored on consecutive possessions as Viterbo went up 19, and while a late three made it a 12-point game, late free throws iced the game and VU won 68-52.

Olson posted a game-high 15 points and added seven rebounds, while Mannel posted 12 with a game-high nine assists and added six boards. Malovrh grabbed seven rebounds to go with his 10 points. Drew Houtakker matched the game-high 15 points for Edgewood.

VU outshot EC 53.1% - 31.7% from the floor, while neither shot well from three, 16.7% - 21.9%. Viterbo also grabbed seven more rebounds, 38-31.

The V-Hawks return to action on Friday, November 10 against Northwestern (Iowa) at the Northwestern College Classic.