Stevenson wins a wild one at Mundelein

Stevenson and Mundelein provided the fans in attendance with a lot of things that they might not normally see when they see the Patriots and Mustangs play.

Sights like Mundelein senior Ben Brust on the bench in foul trouble, Stevenson cutting and driving to the basket and shooting 65-percent from the floor and Mustang coach Dick Knar getting just his third technical foul in 20-plus years of coaching - those were just a few of the unusual and bizarre occurrences on Friday night at Mundelein.

Despite the unusual circumstances, Stevenson was still able to go on the road and earn another key win in the North Suburban Lake Division. The Patriots and Mustangs traded leads six times in the fourth quarter Friday before Stevenson pulled away and held on for a 67-65 victory.

"This is a wide open conference race, and to get a win here tonight against a good Mundelein team is big for us," Ambrose said.

Stevenson (6-2, 2-2) had a plan from the start to get to the basket as much as possible and the Patriots did just that. Stevenson attempted just 9 3-pointers all night, but it was the penetration of Levitt and Nate Johnson that made the difference.

"Coaches were telling me all week to be more aggressive and get to the basket," said Johnson who led the Patriots with 17 points. "We wanted to get the ball to the hole tonight."

In the third quarter, with the Iowa-bound Brust on the bench in foul trouble, Stevenson took control. A 12-2 run anchored by Johnson and Levitt aided the Patriots. But Mundelein freshman Robert Knar kept the Mustangs in it with 6 of his 17 points in the period.

"That's really what Robert can do for us," said Brust, who still managed to lead all scorers with 22 points. "He is a scorer and can fill it up."

When Brust came back in the fourth quarter the two teams proceeded to change the lead back and forth before Stevenson finally pulled away one last time. A layup by Kevin Earl (14 points) and a runner by Levitt (10 points) with 1:39 to play helped the Patriots ice the wild win.

"We got our layups to fall and we were patient," Ambrose said. "We also went out and made good decisions with the basketball tonight as well."

Mundelein (5-4, 1-3) had a chance to at least tie the game in the final seconds. As time wound down, the Mustangs tried frantically to call timeout, but were unsuccessful leading to a turnover and a technical foul on coach Richard Knar.

"No matter what the situation is I should never get to the point where I get a technical foul," Knar said. "But at the end we still had a chance and we couldn't convert."

Ryan Sawvell was the only other player to hit double figures with 17 points.