Road trip is off to a good start.
Our Savior's survived another second half run to pull away in Indiana in a 73-61 win over Fort Wayne on Thursday night. Now the Eagles have to finish off their road trip swing Saturday night against a ranked Hartsburg Emden team.
But first the Eagles had to go to business with the Fort Wayne Eagles, where the teams were toe-to-toe early on. It was clear that head coach Phillip Heppe had made adjustments after the near-loss to Jacksonville. Our Savior's (2-0) had struggled to drive to the net against the Crimsons, but found early success cutting inside against Fort Wayne.
But the turnover fairy continued to plague the Eagles in the first half, as they tried to force the ball inside to both Wes Mullen and Christian Lahniers. Jace Easley struggled scoring around the perimeter scoring only eight on 4-for-10 shooting in the opening 12 minutes. Despite Easley’s struggles, Conor McCaffrey continued to establish himself as premier point guard, scoring 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and racking up 13 assists.
Our Savior's finished the first half on top, but it wasn’t until the beginning of the second half that the Eagles pulled away. A turnover then three from Jace Easley set an early tone in the second half.
Yet, history repeated itself as Fort Wayne (0-2), like Jacksonville, went on a late run — this one of the 14-6 variety — in the second half to make the contest tight.
Except the Eagles didn’t fall for it this time. McCaffrey and Mullen took over in a winning effort that is sure to leave the coaching staff with a better feeling in their stomachs after just getting by Jacksonville