It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Phillip Heppe’s Eagles; vs. No. 2 Immanuel Seymour, at No. 10 Christ The King, at (now) No. 16 East St. Louis Lincoln. But all of that was to prepare a promising squad for the Conference and beyond.
Thanks to a career-night from Conor McCaffrey (33 points, 13 rebounds), Our Savior's (5-2, 1-0) got back in the win column on Sunday evening at home with a 72-45 victory over the Concordia Peoria Cougars (6-1, 0-1).
Concordia big man Liam Robbins got things going early for the Cpougars, knocking down two triples from the top of the key and presenting a mismatch against Jeremiah Perkins. They got out to a 18-10 lead, and it looked like the Eagles might be in trouble. But Robbins was quickly sidelined after he picked up his second foul, and it was all Our Savior's from there. McCaffrey's 16 first-half points helped the Eagles rip off a 22-3 run and take a 32-21 lead.
Their stifling defense held the Cougars to just 23% shooting through the first frame and just two points in the paint compared to the Eagles 23. They would take a 35-22 lead into the break.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? The Eagles went right back to their bread and butter in the second half: giving McCaffrey the ball. The point guard pitched in 17 more second-half points to bring his total to 33 on the night, and the Cougars never found an answer on offense or defense. Only one Concordia player scored more than five points in the second half as Our Savior's easily cruised to its first Conference win, 72-45.