Big finish for Bison

Buffalo Grove was outscored by visiting Rolling Meadows in three of four quarters on Friday night in Mid-Suburban East boys basketball.

The Bison got the most out of the one quarter they outscored the Mustangs.

BG outscored Meadows 23-11 in the final period to overcome a game-long deficit it had been facing all game and come away with a 52-48 victory. Kevin Mulligan scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in that final eight minutes to spur on the comeback.

"We were down and you're just trying," Mulligan said. "Yeah, I guess I was in the zone."

BG (11-4, 3-1) was only able to tally 29 points in the first three, but a couple quick early hoops in the fourth quarter seemed to erase the early struggles.

"We were able to keep it rolling from there, keep the momentum going," Mulligan said. "You've got to be tough when you are down in the fourth quarter, and that's what we did."

Ryan O'Connor, Mulligan's coach, had some nice praise for his junior guard.

"The kid hates to lose, I can tell you that," O'Connor said. "He's a competitive kid and he's one of those kids where he's going to will our team to victory. When you've got a leader like that on the floor, it's very valuable. And we were fortunate to have him on our side tonight."

Meadows (6-8, 2-2) coach Kevin Katovich had a very similar impression of Mulligan.

"He's very tough and he kind of took control of the game there," Katovich said. "You've got to give him credit. He hates to lose. He's just a very nice player."

Mulligan also drew the assignment of guarding Meadows' Richie Kemph for most of the game. Mulligan's defense helped hold Kemph to just one basket in the second half.

"It was tough," Mulligan said. "Richie's a good kid and a good basketball player. He's quick, he can drive, he can shoot. So it's really tough."

Kemph wound up with 11 points for the game, which was enough to share team-high scoring honors with guard Will Trunk.

The Mustangs' offense was definitely impacted by Jimmy Garoppolo being in foul trouble for most of the second half, and ultimately fouling out with 4:16 to play. Garoppolo scored 10 points.

"That hurt us," Katovich said. "I thought Jimmy played real well tonight and then he got in some foul trouble, but I thought we battled hard."

While Mulligan was the only Bison to reach double figures in scoring, everyone who played scored with Mike Cornely adding 8 points.