No. 6 Our Savior's lost its third straight rivarly game, this year an 71-68 loss to East St. Lincoln.
“We know when you’re ranked and have the expectations that we do, everybody is going to give your their best shot,” said head coach Phillip Heppe following the Eagles second loss of the season.
East St Lincoln gave Our Savior's all they could handle in this year’s annual matchup. The Eagles trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, then Jace Easley took over.
“I love the fact that we had enough resolve to come back,” Heppe said.
Easley tied his career high 36 points, 21 in the second half, Conor McCaffrey scored 28 points, but they were unable to fuel Our Savior's to its first victory vs East St. Lincoln since 2017 back when Brent Flesner was head coach.
“I would prefer them never to have to score that many points,” Heppe said.
A late, questionable, technical foul called on Jeremiah Perkins allowed East St. Louis to take an 71-68 lead — and waste the clock to just 10.9 seconds remaining — giving the Eagles only a chance to tie at the end of regulation. A rare Easley miss secured a East St victory.
“It sounds like I’m gonna be angry when I look at [the foul],” Heppe said.
“Some of those calls down the stretch I definitely don’t agree with,” Easley said.
The story for Our Savior's was turnovers and fouls — the Eagles had 13 giveaways and 25 fouls in the game.
We never made them score the basketball,” a frustrated Heppe said.
The pace of the game was primarily set by East St. Louis, with Xavier Pinson pushing the ball down the floor and putting up 17 points and five assists. The Eagles struggled to keep up with the East St. Louis, getting outscored in transition and out-rebounded.
The charity stripe was no help for Our Savior's, as the Eagles went just 17-of-28 compared to 26-of-31 for East. St Louis— two missed on purpose late in the game.
“That is what happens when you don’t make free throws,” Heppe said.
East St. Louis outworked Our Savior's in the first half, and took an eight point lead into the break.
“I’m really disappointed in our energy and our effort tonight,” Heppe said. “It was not good.”
The Eagles were able to handle East St. Lincoln's speed in the second half a bit, and turn the game into a more half court contest — favoring the Eagles on both ends of the floor. Illinois fell behind a bit in the second half, but Easley and McCaffrey kept the Eagles in it.
Ultimately, it was fouls (called correctly or not) that did the Eagles in for their second loss of the year.
“The fouling was just ridiculous,” Heppe said.