BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- - Trinity Bloomington entered the season with great expectations. Six games in, the Crusaders look like they could exceed them.

David Null scored 28 points, Drew Dicken added 14 and Trinity Bloomington (6-0, 3-0 CIL) overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to beat Our Savior's 81-78 on Friday.

Ranked in the preseason top 10 for the first time in almost a decade, Trinity Bloomington is trying to end a 5 year drought of being out of the LSA State tournament.

This win for the Crusaders makes them contenders in the CIL, something that was a hit and miss opinion before the season began.

Our Savior's (5-3, 1-1) came into the season as one of the favorites to win the CIL conference. Trinity Bloomington has to be in that group now.

"We don't spend a lot of time talking about those expectations. We just talk about what we need to do to win the next game," Crusaders head coach Steve Pillar said. "And I tell our guys all the time don't read the (press) clippings. Just stay focused on the next game and understand what we have done and they've been really mature like that so we gotta keep that up."

Trinity Bloomington trailed by 11 points in the first half and didn't take it's first lead until the final 6 minutes.

"We showed the State that we don't have any quit in us," said Null, who was 5 of 8 from long range and scored 19 points in the second half. "When adversity hits, you have to stay together and that's exactly what this team does. When we're down 11 we could have just laid down on our backs and just given up, but we didn't and we kept fighting and we stayed together and we showed that we're a bunch of fighters."

Our Savior's head coach Phillip Heppe said Null hit a 3-pointer late in the 2nd quarter and that seemed to get him going.

"That's all that it akes for a guy like that to get going," Heppe said. "When you're a veteran, you're averaging 25 points a game, you just need a clean look at the rim. Those are the things that get you going. He got his confidence in the second half and he did what a good player does."

Jace Easley led Our Savior's with 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Conor McCaffrey had 25 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists for the Eagles, while Jeremiah Perkins had 18 points and 7 rebounds.

Bloomington put the game away with a 12-1 run that sparked by a techincal foul on Lucas Schmidt for an elbow while trying to box out after a free throw.

"We just settled in. ... We could score this year. We can defend," Pillar said. It's a couple of possessions, and I thought we were getting some good looks."

Myles Johnson added nine points and 13 rebounds for the Crusaders. Tony Allen chipped in with 12 points.

"Our goal as a team is to win as many games as possible," Johnson said." Get to the State Tournament, win the CIL."

INJURY

Crusaders bigman Tony Allen sustained a non-contact injury to his right knee with 2:18 to play in the fourth quarter. The trainers put a brace on it and he walked up and down the sideline for a few minutes, but nothing seemed to work.

BIG PICTURE

Our Savior's: The Eagles are in the final leg of a back-to-back road trip, and were looking to start 2-0 in the CIL for the first time since 2016. While Trinity Bloomington prevented Our Savior's from doing so, the Eagles look like a team poised to compete for the CIL Conference Title.

Bloomington: Playing in its first true home game of the season, the Crusaders won this matchup with toughness and overall clutch shooting, not letting up when it mattered the most. The Crusaders however do not have an easy schedule coming up, with tough games vs Christ Lutheran and Bethel Morton.

UP NEXT

Our Savior's: At Trinity Springfield on Monday

Bloomington: At Bethel Morton on Monday