Visiting Edwardsburg rallied from a first half 11-point deficit to pull out a 55-53 Wolverine Conference West Division boys basketball victory over Dowagiac Friday night.

The Eddies (5-4, 3-1 West) scored the game’s final eight points to pull out the victory. Edwardsburg’s first lead of the game came with 30 seconds left when Jackson Gaideski connected on a pair of free throws to give the Eddies’ a 54-53 lead.

Dowagiac (4-4, 2-2 West) played for the last shot, but when Brandon Winchester-Jones’ pull-up jumper didn’t go in, the Chieftains were forced to foul Dante Razzano with three ticks showing on the clock.

Razanno hit the first of two free throw attempts, but missed the second. Edwardsburg grabbed the rebound, its 11th offensive rebound of the fourth quarter, and ran out the clock.

“We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds,” Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt said. “That was one thing. The other thing is every time we turned the ball over they capitalized and scored. We have got to learn how to not turn the ball over in critical moments.”

The Chieftains turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter.

First-year Edwardsburg coach Steve Wright was pleased with the way his team kept its head during the first half.

“We talked about how they were going to come out with a lot of energy,” Wright said. “They are a good shooting team and we told them that they may hit a few, but we have to keep challenging them.

“Offensively for us, we needed to find that next guy and get off a good shot. They followed it and they worked hard. They grinded it out and got it done in the end.”

Issac Vite led the Eddies’ balanced scoring with 11 points. Dylan Hulett finished with 10, while Grant Szalewski had nine. Razzano and Gaideski both had eight.

Dowagiac’s Brandon Winchester-Jones led all scorers with 29 points, including 21 in the first half. Kyle Solloway and Keoantae Blackamore finished with 11 and eight respectively.

The Chieftains are back in action Saturday afternoon as they travel to Niles for  3:15 p.m. contest.

 

Edwardsburg 55, Dowagiac 43

EDWARDSBURG 55

Grant Szalewski 9, Derek Pierce 2, Dante Razzano 8, Jackson Gaideski 8, Joe Queener 7, Dalton Raymond 0, Dylan Hulett 10, Isaac Vite 11. TOTALS: 16 15-30 55

DOWAGIAC 53

Brandon Winchster-Jones 29, Bryce Dodd 2, Harry Reed 0, Leroy Lewis 3, Daquan Brooks 0, Tevin Fowlkes 0, Keoantae Blackamore 8, Kyle Solloway 11, Matt Smith 0. TOTALS: 20 6-11 53

 

Edwardsburg                        12       25       37       55

Dowagiac                               16       31       43       53

3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 8 (Szalewski, Gaideski, Queener, Hulett 2, Vite 3), Dowagiac 7 (Winchester-Jones 7(. Total fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 16 (none), Dowagiac 24 (Blackamore). Varsity records: Edwardsburg 5-4 (3-1 West); Dowagiac 4-4 (2-2 West). JV score: Edwardsburg 39, Dowagiac 37