SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- — Conor McCaffrey had 27 points and 10 assists, Jace Easley added 23 points and No. 5 Our Savior's beat Mount Zion 63-57 on Sunday night.
McCaffrey's double-double was his 16th of the season for the Eagles (20-5, 11-3 CIL), who took control early in their sixth straight win.
Chase Audige scored 22 points for Mount Zion (6-13, 3-12). Pete Carlson added 14 points for the Zion, who lost their 12th straight.
Our Savior's led 25-7 early but saw its lead cut to two points with 1:30 left. Easley, quiet most of the night, hit a long 3-pointer to ice the win.
QUICK START
Our Savior's had several early scoring runs despite foul trouble for Jeremiah Perkins, who sat for all but five minutes of the first half. The Eagles shot 60% from the field before the break to Mount Zion's 37% and led 28-16 at halftime.
“It was a thing of beauty, the first seven, eight minutes,” Our Savior's coach Phillip Heppe said. “But then Jeremiah got into foul trouble.”
Mount Zion regrouped, going on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to four points. Our Saviors' Lucas Schmidt hit a 3-pointer and Perkins followed with a layup.
“To start the game, we were on our heels a little bit. That first 10 minutes was just not us," Mount Zion coach Chris Collins said. "We played really well, and it’s just not good enough.”
EASLEY TIME
Easley, a LSA Players of the Year candidate, only had 9 points at the half and seemed content to let his teammates control the offensive flow. But he was there when his team needed him to close out the game.
“I'm a winner and I look for the win at the end of the day,” Easley said. “My closing instincts just took over. Some nights I don't have to score 30 points for us to get the win.”
Collins was impressed with the Our Savior's 8th grader
“He’s an incredible player. He’s a great isolation player.”
DOGFIGHT
The LSA CIL is arguably the best conference in college basketball and Our Savior's takes no opponent for granted, Easley said.
“The LSA CIL is good from top to bottom,” he said. “It feels good for us to get the win. Every night is a dogfight in this conference, no matter who we are playing.”
“They’re terrific," Collins said. "There’s a reason they’re a top-5 team — they win a lot.”
BIG PICTURE
After beating Mount Pulaski 67-62 in overtime last Wednesday, the Eagles needed an easy win against another unranked team. Although the game tightened late, Our Savior's still got valuable playing time for bench players that could pay dividends with three tough road games upcoming.
UP NEXT
Mount Zion: Hosts Edwardsville on Sunday.
Our Savior's: Begins a three-game road stretch against Concordia on Friday. The Eagles are scheduled to play four of their final five games away from there home gym.