Lake Zurich surprises Mundelein

Mundelein came back from a 10-point deficit midway through the third quarter to come within 1 point late in the fourth.

But that was it.

Lake Zurich’s Mirko Grcic sank an ally-oop layup and a minute later, Mike Boyd threw a long inbound pass to Drake Orser for a basket, as the Bears upset the visiting Mustangs 62-57 in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division boys basketball game Friday night.

Lake Zurich improved to 5-13 overall with its second straight win and 2-5 in the division, while snapping Mundelein’s 13-game winning streak. The Mustangs fell to 19-3, 5-2.

“We looked like a completely different team than the first time we played Mundelein (a 60-58 loss Dec. 3) in terms of taking care of the ball,” Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said. “It was the same situation, where we were up 7 or 8 points at halftime, but this time we did a nice job knocking down some free throws and holding onto the ball.

“It was nice to get over the hump because we had so many close ones and (Mundelein) is a great team.”

The Bears were leading 37-28 when Mundelein’s Ryan Sawvell blocked a Lake Zurich shot to start a 16-6 run, bringing the visitors within 44-43 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The two teams exchanged baskets until Boyd threw the pass to Orser to clinch it with 26 seconds left.

“I am not too sure why we came out sluggish,” Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. “That has been one of our problems all season. We’ve been able to overcome the slow starts, but this time we just couldn’t do it”

Sawvell led all scorers with 26 points, while Robert Knar added 25. But they were the only two who scored until Leavon Head sank a layup late in the fourth quarter.

“We haven’t been able to consistently come up with a third scorer,” Dick Knar said. “We would have one player one game and another player another game.”

Orser finished with 14 points, while Boyd chipped in 11 points.

“We knew coming in that this would be a big game for us,” Boyd said. “For the past two years, they have had our number and it felt good for us to win this one.”