Monroe and Edgewood battled to overtime, where the Cheesemakers emerged with a 66-60 win over the Crusaders on Friday night in Badger South Conference play.
Monroe took a 28-24 halftime lead, led by Nick Schumacher with nine points. Edgewood's leading scorer at the break was Isandro Jimenez with nine as well. Monroe led from the start of the game until 6:30 to play in the first half, when Edgewood got its first lead. The teams traded baskets until the break.
The second half began with a big Edgewood run to take the lead at 32-28. The Crusaders got to work down low, as Andrew Newton scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, and also hit some big three-point shots to hold the lead in spots. However, Edgewood could never press the lead to more than four points, and Monroe answered back to tie or take the lead at several junctures in the second half.
Monroe's team effort included key plays made by Michael Lange and J.T. Seagreaves on offense, with Schumacher adding six second-half points to help keep the Cheesemakers in it. Defensively, Kade King had two blocks and several big rebounds to control the flow of the game, while Schumacher had an incredible sequence in which he blocked back-to-back corner threes to spark Monroe down the stretch.
A 55-55 tie with a minute to play allowed Edgewood to run the clock down from a minute to play, but the Crusaders' buzzer-beating three went in and out of the hoop, forcing overtime.
In overtime, Monroe's defense and clutch free throw shooting delivered the win, going up by two possessions quickly into the extra session and holding on for a six-point win.
Monroe sits now at 3-2, tied for third in the Badger South with Monona Grove and two games behind Stoughton. Edgewood fell to 2-3, a game back of Monroe.
MONROE 28|27|11=66
EDGEWOOD 24|31|5=60
Monroe Scoring: Nick Schumacher 18, Michael Lange 15, Cade Meyer 10, J.T. Seagreaves 9, Kade King 7, Carson Leuzinger 5, Aaron Ziolkowski 2
Edgewood Scoring: Isandro Jimenez 19, Andrew Newton 12, Michael Meriggioli 9, Michael Regnier 8, Jackson Wendler 3, Travis Drumm 3, Jack Clark 2, Daniel James 2, Sam Salzwedel 2