Lakewood- The Saint Edward Eagles defeated the Lutheran West Longhorns in a highly contested matchup 62-60.

The 1^st half was all Eagles. The Eagles had six three-pointers in the first half and four of them in the 1^st quarter alone. The Longhorns really struggled in the 2^nd quarter, being outscored by the Eagles 23-8. What looked like was going to be a highly anticipated game from the start, was starting to become a very convincing and big win from the Eagles at the half.

Head Coach of the Lutheran West Longhorns Jordan Duke didn’t let a 21-point deficit at the half get to him and his team. The Longhorns came racing back in the 2^nd half scoring 21 points in back-to-back quarters.  Leading the charge was Senior Omar Martinez who had 20 points on the night and 14 in the 4^th quarter. His teammate and big man Senior Matthew Meyer standing at 6’6 also had a big night for the Longhorns with 19 points.

You could feel the tension and excitement from both teams and their fans in attendance inside St Ed’s gymnasium. With 10 seconds left to go in the game we were tied up at 60. Taking the inbound pass was Junior Bryan Vlosich for the Eagles who threw up a three-pointer that was no good but got fouled with 7.2 seconds left in the game. Meaning free-throws were coming to Vlosich and the Eagles way. Vlosich made 2 out of the 3 and the Eagles got the 62-60 victory.

I had a chance to speak with Head Coach of the Saint Edward Eagles Eric Flannery about the win.  “I was proud of them. In the 1^st half really, our focus was we need to play better early because we got down early against Ignatius, we got down early against Pickerington North and had a hard time coming back. Tonight, our focus was to win the 1^st and 2^nd quarter and I thought we did a great job of that.” Flannery said.

I continued by asking Coach Flannery what his team was able to do to win the game and avoid a Longhorns comeback. Flannery continued by saying “In the 3^rd and 4^th quarter Lutheran West became who they are. They are very talented, tough inside, they got some size, and they did a great job.

They kept battling and you have to give them a lot of credit but in the end, I thought our guys did a great job of making the plays they had to make to get a win, and these are the types of games and atmosphere that you want as often as you can get in the regular season.” Flannery said

Senior Drew Yurcich had 17 points for the Eagles. I asked Coach Flannery about his efforts tonight. “Well Drew has been our leading scorer all year and as a senior he’s just been really crafty. He gets to the rim, I think he’s got some quickness that people don’t realize, and he was great tonight.” Flannery said

Junior Bryan Vlosich also had 17 points for the Eagles on the night. I asked Coach Flannery about his performance and his shot at the end of the game that was called a foul. “Bryan just keeps battling. He keeps getting it done on the defensive end which probably goes unnoticed. He is always willing to take the big shot which is really important. To be in that position you have to give him a lot of credit with that confidence to step up and take it.” Flannery said

Next week the Lutheran West Longhorns will return home for a two-game homestand. January 15^th they will take on the Buchtel Griffins along with the Harvest Prep Warriors on January 17^th. For the Saint Edward Eagles, they will go up against the Fairview Warriors at home tomorrow Saturday January 11^th before heading to Akron January 14^th to take on the Saint Vincent-Saint Mary Fighting Irish.

1      2      3       4       F

Lutheran West    10     8     21     21     60

St. Ed’s               16     23   13     10     62