ACC 47, St. Francis 44

The St. Francis boys basketball team's game at Aurora Central Catholic Friday night was more than just another Suburban Catholic Conference contest.

It was more than just a shot at securing a top spot in the conference standings.

The last time ACC and St. Francis played, the Chargers beat them by 23 points. This time, however, was completely different, as the Spartans topped the Chargers 47-44 in Aurora on Hall of Fame night.

"We had a lot to prove as a team," St. Francis coach Shawn Healy said. "The last time we played them, our performance was really poor (a 53-30 loss) and we wanted to prove something to ourselves, and we did that tonight. It was a big game for the conference standings, but it was a big game for us as a team. Throw out the records, we had something to prove tonight.

"The kids kept their composure and they played with a lot of heart."

"We definitely had a lot to prove, considering how poorly we played last time," added St. Francis senior Brian McMahon, who led all scorers with 15 points. "We wanted to come out and prove we were a better team."

The loss was the first for ACC at home and in the conference this year. It dropped to 18-2, 8-1 while the Spartans are now tied with the Chargers in the conference standings at 7-1 (12-5 overall).

"The first time we played them, I think the score was a little deceptive -- they are not that bad," ACC coach Nate Drye said. "We just so happened to jump on them, but obviously, they are a very good team…I didn't expect we'd blow them out the first time or this time. It would have been nice, but none of us expected that."

The game was tied 4 times in the second half (8 times overall) with the last knot at 40 after Bob Vonderhaar's basket with 4:20 left in the game sparked a 9-0 Spartans run.

By the end of the run, the Spartans had their largest lead of the game, 47-40, after a Dan McCoy 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining.

Back-to-back baskets from Mike and Mark Adams reduced the lead to the final score with 1:22 left in the game.

Turnovers, timeouts and missed attempts on both sides were what prevented the score from changing after that.

"Every basket, the crowd was into it, and it was a great atmosphere out there," McMahon said. "But we hung in there."

In addition to McMahon, the Spartans were led by Vonderhaar and McCoy, who each finished with 9 points. Vonderhaar added 3 blocks.

ACC was led by Mark Adams' 13 points and 4 steals, along with younger brother Mike, who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.