Mundelein knocks off Stevenson

For all the plays the Mundelein junior Cliff Dunigan made in the Mustangs' home contest with Stevenson Friday night, there was one in particular that almost caught the ire of coach Dick Knar.

In a tight North Suburban Conference Lake Division contest with the Patriots, Dunigan came up with a key steal. On his way to a breakaway layup, Dunigan had to decide if he would lay the ball in or dunk it.

"I can grip the ball in one hand so I knew I could dunk it," Dunigan said. "On the way up the ball slipped out of my hand. I had to do whatever I could to get the ball in."

Fortunately the ball fell neatly into the bucket for Dunigan, as did most of the shots he took Friday night. His team-best 14 points helped propel Mundelein to its eighth straight win 59-51 over Stevenson. The Patriots have dropped four straight.

"On that play I saw the ball come loose and I just kind of looked at him and smiled after it went in," Knar said. "Cliff has done a lot of great things for us this year and he made a couple big plays for us there at the end."

Mundelein (16-3, 4-1) led by as many as 13 in the second half before Stevenson finally chipped away at the lead.

The Patriots used a 10-2 run to open the final quarter to pull within 51-47 with 3:11 left. A bucket by Chandler Simon and a short runner from Michael Fleming brought Stevenson (10-5, 3-3) as close as it had been since the first quarter. Fleming struggled, as did the Patriot offense. The senior led all scorers with 16 points but managed 8 field goals in 29 attempts.

"We were 22 of 66 from the field tonight," said Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose. "I thought defensively we did some things well, but in the end you have to make shots."

Needing a bucket after Stevenson cut the margin to 4, Dunigan stepped up and found Nate Brune (6 points) for a long 3-pointer from the left side of the arc to put the Mustangs back up by 7. Then the steal from Dunigan sealed it giving the home team a 56-47 cushion.

"We weren't doing a lot of good on offense and Nate came up and hit a big shot," Dunigan said.

Stevenson closed to within 56-49 with a minute left but could get no closer.

"That stretch was huge," Ambrose said. "We get it to 4; then they hit a big shot. Give Mundelein credit, they came up and made some big plays at the end."

To go with Dunigan's 14 was a 13-point, 13-rebound effort from Sean O'Brien. Robert Knar chipped in with 11 points.

Colby Cashaw added 12 points and 10 boards for Stevenson.