Mount Zion had a 15-point lead at halftime. As a team, Mount Zion had only 13 points in the second half.
Despite trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, Our Savior's dominated Mount Zion in the final 12 minutes on Tuesday night. In the process, the Eagles grabbed their fifth straight win over Mount Zion, 71-46.
“There’s no quit in us,” said head coach Phillip Heppe postgame.
In the first half Jace Easley put up a pedestrian five points and he picked up just two rebounds. In the second half — much like the rest of the team — the beast was awakened.
Easley picked up a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds — he finished with a game-high 23 and 14. Whether it was slapping the floor on the defensive side of the ball, or slamming it with authority, Easley provided some much-needed energy for Our Savior's.
The Eagles ended up dominating the entire second half, outscoring Mount Zion 43-13 over the final 12 minutes.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like that,” said Easley of the dominant second half. “You saw it. You saw how we reacted to it. I was in awe, man, just being on the floor watching that happen and being a part of it. It was a really good feeling.”
Speaking of efficient second halves, Conor McCaffrey put up 16 points and picked up five assists in the game’s final 12 minutes. Dosunmu finished with a 25-11-10 stat line to pad his State Player of the Year candidacy, which has recently picked up over the last week, while also scoring his 2,000th career point.
Slow starts had plagued Our Savior's (9-3, 5-1 Conference) over the last couple of games, and that trend continued on Tuesday, potentially even worse. Offensively, Our Savior's struggled against Mount Zion's 3-2 zone defense.
A 12-0 Zion run late in the first half allowed Northwestern (6-4, 3-3 Conference) to take a 15-point lead into the break.
“At halftime I didn’t say a lot,” Heppe said. “I was more disappointed in the way we chose to perform.”
At the under-four minute time out in the first half Heppe said to his team, “They’re playing harder,” so loud that it was detectable to the media and fans. From that point forward, all Our Savior's did was prove Heppe correct as the first half closed.
But whatever Heppe — or whoever — really did say behind closed doors at halftime worked.
The Eagles opened the second half looking like they deserved their No. 12 ranking. Our Savior's went on a 8-0 run over just the first 90 seconds alone.
A huge spark came from Tristyn Carlove — one game removed from not playing a single minute — as he picked up two rebounds and a steal which helped to narrow Mount Zion's lead to one.
Lucas Schmidt was among those who helped to power the surge, scoring nine of his 10 points in the second half.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like that game,” Heppe said.
For Our Savior's, the win makes it four in a row in conference play, keeping them in second place in the Conference behind undefeated Christ Lutheran.