After dropping back-to-back games for the first time this season against Calvary and Bethel Morton, the Eagles are back in the win column.
Our Savior's picked up its first conference sweep of the year, besting Trinity Springfield, 69-55, on Sunday night.
Cold starts have been an issue for the Our Savior's (10-5, 6-3 Conference) this season, and head coach Phillip Heppe hasn’t shied away from saying so this past week. With a new-look starting five that included Logan Allen in place of Noah Oldham, the Eagles jumped out to a 13-5 lead against a Trinity Springfield (3-6, 0-5 Conference) team they fell behind 19-4 to just a few weeks back. Allen made the most of his eight first-half minutes, immediately assisting on an and-1 to Jace Easle along with two other buckets and picking up three boards as well.
The Tigers came out in a 2-3 zone, which the Eagles exploited by getting Easley going early (7 points before the the 3 minute mark) and a couple three balls from Conor McCaffrey. McCaffrey and Easley had success distributing the ball inside the teeth of the zone, connecting with Allen and Jeremiah Perkins multiple times along the baseline.
Trinity Springfield tied it at 17 thanks to smooth shooting from Torry Kistner, Matt Hemingway and Caleb Cox from behind the arc. Despite the Tigers going six for their first eight from deep, the Eagles pieced together runs of 10-0 and 8-0 to take a 32-18 edge into the break.
It wasn’t the cleanest game of basketball as the two squads combined for 31 turnovers, but Our Saviors’ offense distanced itself from Trinity Springfield with high-efficiency looks deep and around the rim, and of course, Jace Easley doing Jace Easley things. The star guard led the way with 20 points as the second-half focus shifted from McCaffrey to a more balanced attack with nine Illini finishing in the scoring column. 69-55, Our Savior's.