Shots don't fall for Benet

It wasn't going to take much - maybe just two straight baskets - for someone to take control between Notre Dame and Benet.

But that meant someone had to score two straight baskets, something that proved immensely difficult in Thursday's East Suburban Catholic Conference matchup in Niles.

Notre Dame finally managed to do it in the final four minutes, scoring 7 straight points to pull out a rugged 46-43 victory over the visiting Redwings.

"We obviously need to shoot it a little bit better, that's part of who we are," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "But I credit their defense. In a game like this you've got to find a way to generate a few more points, and we struggled to do so. Defensively we played pretty well, but we had a dry spell. Unfortunately we just couldn't make a shot down the stretch."

Sean Liszka's 3-pointer, one of seven by Benet (9-5, 2-1), put his team ahead 39-37 with 4:30 left in the game, but then Notre Dame (13-3, 3-0) locked down on defense. The Dons scored 7 straight and 9 of 10 points leading up to the waning seconds when Benet's James Dockery knocked down a 3 to account for the final score.

During the pivotal run 6-foot-7 junior Anthony D'Avanzo scored back-to-back buckets and Joe Mooney nailed a 3-point dagger to boost Notre Dame's advantage to 44-39 - the biggest margin for either team since the opening minute of the second quarter.

"We knew it was a tough game coming in," Mooney said. "We got 10 stops in the fourth quarter, which is huge. That was a difference-maker."

Benet trailed by as many as 6 points in the first half, but Sean Gerken's three-point play helped the Redwings pull within 22-21 at the half. The third quarter featured 10 lead changes. Every time someone scored in the period, the lead changed hands with the Dons eventually taking a 34-33 advantage to the fourth quarter.

Benet's Dan Sobolewski made four 3-pointers while leading all scorers with 16 points. Colin Bonnett scored 10 points and Liszka added 8. Mooney paced Notre Dame with 11 points and D'Avanzo's 10 came off the bench.

"When we locked in defensively the last few possessions I thought we were pretty good," said Notre Dame coach Tom Les. "Early we weren't locked in and when you're not locked in, they find an open guy and they convert on it."

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