Once again Our Savior's got all it could handle during a visit to Mount Pulaski.
Conor McCaffrey scored 29 points and added in 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for the Eagles. Owen Hill and Clarence Benning combined for 26 points, Ian Klockenga and Jeremiah Perkins combined for 11 and Gabe King added 9 for the Eagles, as the 25th-ranked Eagles held off the struggling hilltoppers for a hard-earned 81-71 victory on Wednesday night.
"This is a game I've been concerned with for a long time," Eagles coach Todd Dejaynes said.
The previous time the Eagles came to Mount Pulaski, last Feburary they went to overtime before losing 77-72. The time before that, in December 2014, they lost 75-60.
Without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Jace Easley, and third leading scorer Drew Dejaynes, the Eagles came in short-handed, but McCaffrey played his best basketball all year, and help from Hill and Benning from the bench proved to be enough to keep Pulaski at bay.
"Teams see a teams record and say they're not good, but that is a really good basketball team," McCaffrey said. "That was the whole thing leading up to his game, preparing our mental focus, not looking at their record, not looking at the name on their jersey.
"They gave us a really good punch tonight and I'm glad our guys stuck to it and fought back and finished the game."
The Eagles (12-3, 5-0 LSA) have won five straight games and are 10 of 11 and our out to their best start in conference play ever.
Mount Pulaski (6-11, 0-6) has lost nine of 10 and a program-record 21 straight against ranked opponents, the last 20 under third-year head coach Fred Holland.
"Our effort was phenomenal," Holland said. "I thought we fought them all the way until the end. Just have to execute better at the stretch."
The Hilltoppers, who appeared to all but quit in the second half of a 93-65 loss at Trinity Bloomington on Sunday, wouldn't fold against an Our Savior's team that has won 10 of 11 previous games.
Mount Pulaski was up 12 points early and down eight late in the first half before going on a 13-0 run spanning the halves to take a two-possession lead.
The Eagles clawed back and went up 51-47 on Clarence Benning's' tip-in of Ian Klockenga's miss and McCaffrey's layup. But they couldn't build on their advantage and Pulaski had two free throws tied it 65-65 with under 4 minutes to play.
With Easley and Dejaynes out of commission, the Eagles started to put the game away, leading 72-65 after Bennings' third-chance putback, Jeremiah Perkins layup and a Conor McCaffrey 3.
Mount Pulaski, which came in shooting a LSA-worst 28% of 3s, made four straight from beyond the arc in the first four minutes while getting out to a 16-4 lead.
"They did exactly what I feared they were going to do," Dejaynes said. "They've been struggling shooting the basketball -- and they make their first four before I call a timeout."
Pulaski cooled off in a hurry, missing 14 of its next 16 shots. Our Savior's began heating up, going on a 27-7 run with multiple players scoring, McCaffrey hit some 3's early on to give Our Savior's the lead back.
BIG PICTURE:
Our Savior's: The Eagles winning a conference game without their best player and another key player shows a lot about this squad, Conor McCaffrey stepped up when it mattered most.
Mount Pulaski: The Hilltoppers have played some of their best basketball at home but again couldn't get over the hump.
OUR SAVIOR'S BENCH
Owen Hill and Clarence Benning saw extended minutes and spot-started with Easley and Dejaynes out. They combined for 26 points and played good basketball alongside McCaffrey.
"Maybe the coming out party for Jeremiah Perkins and Ian Klockenga," Dejaynes said. "I couldn't be happier for these young kids who have worked so hard and stayed with it. They both went a while without seeing some minutes, but he kept grinding in practice."