LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in conference play this season by rallying past Edgewood in the second half en route to a 63-53 win on Saturday afternoon.

Edgewood led for nearly the entire first half, opening a 5-4 edge with 16:12 to go in the first. The visiting Eagles led by as many as seven points in the opening frame. Tim McGinty scored on a layup with 1:55 to play in the first, bringing Benedictine within 23-22. Edgewood held a three-point lead at 27-24 at the end of the opening 20 minutes.

Benedictine netted the first four points of the second half on baskets from Tim Reamer and Michael Blaszczyk to grab an early 28-27 advantage. Edgewood led by four points at the midpoint of the half and still held a slim lead with 8:15 remaining at 43-42. Leading by a single point, Benedictine ripped off 10 in a row to take command. Blaszczyk opened the stretch with a layup and McGinty finished with a three moments after Blaszczyk drained a triple to extend the margin to 56-45.

"That was a great win," head coach Keith Bunkenburg said. "Edgewood has a great team and we struggled with them a bit last year. We gave up a lot of easy baskets in the first half but in the second half I thought we were much better. We hit some big shots down the stretch to extend the advantage."

The Benedictine defense held Edgewood to just 23.3 percent shooting in the second half in outscoring the visitors 39-26. Benedictine held a slim 36-35 edge on the glass and turned the ball over just eight times. McGinty tallied 16 points while Blaszczyk finished with 10. Both players grabbed seven rebounds.

Benedictine (3-1, 2-0 NACC) begins a busy week by hosting preseason conference favorite Aurora on Tuesday night.

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