MADISON, Wis. - Ben Wisniewski got Edgewood College the lead, Derek Nkemnji got it back when they lost it and Cashton Craig provided the final dagger as the Eagle men's basketball team pulled out a gutsy 63-61 victory over a resilient Lakeland College team. Craig's 19-foot jumper from the right wing with 1.3 seconds left boosted the Eagles to 3-0 in the Northern Athletics Conference.

Lakeland College (3-3, 1-3 NAC) rolled out to a 24-16 lead through the first 15 minutes of the game, before the Eagles would begin to rally. Wisniewski started the streak with a three-point basket, followed by buckets from Michael Gehring and Tony Cates. After Craig tied the game at 25 with a basket, Wisniewski scored the Eagles final two field goals of the first half for a 29-26 lead at the break. Edgewood College scored 13 of the final 15 points of the half and Wisniewski went into the locker room with a team-high 11 points.

Edgewood College (5-3, 3-0 NAC) appeared to have every intention of running away with the game in the second half. After the Muskies tied the game at 33, the Eagles embarked on a fast 16-4 run. Michael Janusek nailed a three-point basket to get the Eagles rolling and Wisniewski followed with a rare four-point play drilling a shot from the top key and converting the ensuing free throw. Kent Faurote followed with two more baskets sandwiching two more Wiesniewski buckets.

With a 49-37 lead with 12 minutes to play Edgewood College appeared to be on solid ground, but some shaky free throw shooting by the Eagles and aggressive drives to the basket by the Muskies got Lakeland College back in the game. Stan McKenzie scored back-to-back layups to bring the Muskies within four points at 49-45. Faurote drilled a three pointer and Cates converted a three-point play to hold them off temporarily, but Jack Ridgway sunk two free throws with 1:42 to go and the Muskies held a 59-58 lead, their first lead since late in the first half.

Needing baskets, the Eagles turned to Nkemnji. The junior guard scored three straight baskets on three driving layups, the last two of which put the Eagles ahead by one and three, respectively, at 61-58 with 24 seconds left. Veteran Lakeland point guard Josh Regal, however, caught the Eagles in transition after Nkemnji's final score and drilled a three-point basket to tie the game at 61 with 19 seconds to play. Nkemnji scored all six of his points in the game's final 3:35.

The Eagles called timeout with 10 seconds remaining to set up their final shot. After inbounding to Craig, he handed off to Nkemnji. Craig then took his defender down under the basket and off a screen on the right side, where Nkemnji found him. Craig squared and shot in one motion and found the bottom of the net with 1.3 seconds left to play.

The Lakeland and Edgewood College benches played a cat-and-mouse game, calling four consecutive timeouts before the final play. Needing to go the length of the floor, Lakeland's Regal took the inbounds pass in the backcourt and got a reasonably good look from the half court stripe, but his final effort clanged off the rim and backboard to secure the Eagles' fifth win of the season.

Wisniewski led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Faurote was the only other Eagle in double figures, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Post player Cates came off the bench to score eight points. The Eagles shot 54.2 percent (26-for-48) from the field, but only 50 percent (6-for-12) from the free throw line.

Lakeland College was led by Bobby Komorowski, who had 12 points and Regal who tallied 11. Germell Herald had a team-high six rebounds for the Muskies. The Eagles limited Lakeland College to just 20 percent (4-for-20) from the three-point line.

Edgewood College will be back in action on Saturday for their final NAC contest of 2010. The Eagles will travel to Lisle, Ill. to face Benedictine University at 4:15 p.m.