Timothy Christian comeback stuns Fenton
Just when it looked like Fenton would bomb its way to an easy win, visiting Timothy Christian dropped in a long-range bomb of its own and things started to change.
The host Bison, who had just gotten a personal-high fifth 3-pointer from Vince Esposito, found themselves on top of the Trojans by 14 points with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter of Friday's Metro Sun Conference contest in Bensenville. But Justin Peeples sank a 3 for Timothy Christian and helped spark a big third-quarter rally that eventually powered the Trojans to a 59-54 defeat of the Bison (6-9, 2-2).
Peeples scored 7 of his 11 points as the Trojans (11-4, 2-2) outscored Fenton 21-12 in the third quarter to cut a 14-point deficit down to 48-46 after three quarters of play.
But Peeples was just one of many heroes on the night for the visitors, who were led by 21 points from forward Rob Stein and also got 12 points and a number of dazzling steals and assists from guard Reggie Greenwood.
"We had to think that all the 3s would not keeping falling for them and we picked up our defense," said Stein, who shot 9 of 13 from the floor and also grabbed 6 rebounds.
"Everyone contributed down the stretch and everyone did their little part for us."
Fenton received plenty of big parts from Esposito and forward Daniel Montano but couldn't stop the Trojans in the end. Esposito was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc while tallying 14 points as the Bison took a 36-25 lead at the half.
Montano, meanwhile, had 9 points in each half and also led his team with 7 rebounds. But after Esposito's 3 early in the second half helped the home team up its lead to 14, the Trojans went on a 16-4 run to close the third quarter and then picked up key baskets late from Stein, Michael Pizzello and Mark Penzcak, along with just enough free throws to pull out the win.
"We just fell apart and didn't play as a team," said Esposito, who finished with 19 points. "We usually don't get off to good starts, but tonight we were playing great as a team in the first half; we just didn't keep doing it. We can't let that happen next week (against rival Riverside-Brookfield)."
Trojans coach Jack LeGrand credited his team's improved intensity for allowing the comeback.
"We really lacked intensity in the first half and Fenton came out really hot and they did a great job running sets," said LeGrand, whose team hadn't played since prior to Christmas. "In the second half we came out with a little fire in the belly, which was nice to see."
Stein, who was on the receiving end of some of Greenwood's passes that led to easy baskets, said the Trojans worked a little harder to get good shots in the second half.
"The more we passed it the better looks we got," he said. "The guards really controlled the tempo for us in the second half."