Aurora Christian's Davis reaches 1,000 in win over St. Francis

Taaj Davis knew he was closing in on 1,000 points for his career.

But he figured he'd become the eighth player in Aurora Christian to reach that prestigious accomplishment next week in Bloomington in the State Farm Holiday Classic tournament.

Instead, he did it on Saturday night, pouring in 33 points to lead the Eagles to a 78-48 thumping of St. Francis in Metro Suburban Conference play.

"I had no idea I was going to get to 1,000 points tonight," Davis said. "I thought I got kicked out of the game or something (when play was halted). It's a blessing to see that happen. Coach told me I was 29 points away so I had no clue. I thought I'd get it down in the Christmas tournament."

Davis surpassed the illustrious 1,000-point plateau after grabbing a long rebound and laying it in on the other end to finish off a 21-0 run that broke the game wide open at 65-37 with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter.

Play was stopped briefly to recognize Davis, who made a quick heartfelt visit in the stands to give his mom a big hug.

"I knew coming in that Taaj needed 29, but I didn't tell him, but I know what he's capable of doing," Eagles coach Dan Beebe said. "I'm just so happy he did it on the home floor and not downstate in Bloomington. He got to do it with his mom and family and a nice crowd and a lot of alumni here."

Aurora Christian (5-2, 2-0) only led 28-25 at halftime, but erupted for 50 points in the second half.

They Eagles led 47-37 after three quarters as Davis drilled a long three-pointer from several feet beyond the top of the key just before time expired. That was just the beginning of a 21-0 run in which he totaled 13 points.

"It was just us finding the pace and trying to keep it up-tempo," Davis said. "We're a small team trying to run and we tried to get out and going. We played together. I hit some shots and Daniel (Walker) stepped up big. Our young guys stepped up and Josh (Cloyd) just got back. I'm proud of all of them."

St. Francis (5-4, 2-1) was hurt as Robert Nocek picked up his second foul just 1:40 into the action. The senior sat until the start of the second half, but even with him back in the mix, the Spartans struggled to put any runs together.

"People have stepped up in the past so other guys have got to make plays," Spartans coach Erin Dwyer said. "We just couldn't get that. We tried to do different things defensively and that didn't work. I think it was more about (Aurora Christian) playing better than us. They did a lot of things better than we did."

While the Spartans committed 22 turnovers, the Eagles had just eight and took three charges.

"I thought they played great as a team," Dwyer said. "They played with passion and they made shots, tough shots. We have to make people do what they're not good at and we didn't do that today."

There simply was no stopping Davis who was even better in the second half with 18 points. He added seven rebounds.

"He's a tough kid to cover," Dwyer said. "We tried to do our best to make everything hard on him but he made a very big difference in the game."

Walker and Danny New added 12 points apiece for the Eagles while Bryce Walker led the Spartans with 13 points and nine rebounds.