Singh, Brust set frenetic pace for Mustangs
When the ball rolled out of play and behind the stands at Lake Zurich on Saturday night, Mundelein senior forward Navjot Singh gladly chased it down for the referee.
You would think he would have wanted to save his energy.
Singh and the rest of the ultra up-tempo Mustangs run at a frenetic pace from the word go, and often run their opponents into the ground in the process.
Mundelein made Lake Zurich its latest victim of exhaustion. The Mustangs, who average more than 80 points per game, buried Lake Zurich 87-59 behind a pair of career nights.
Singh poured in a game- and career-high 30 points, just beating his previous best of 28 points earlier this season against Round Lake. Sophomore guard Ben Brust tied his career-high with 24 points.
The scoring binge by them and their teammates catapulted the Mustangs to their sixth win of the season. They are now 6-1 overall and 2-0 in North Suburban Lake Division play.
Lake Zurich, which got a team-high 14 points from Brandon Kunz and 13 points from Danny Coleman, falls to 4-3 overall and 0-3 in the Lake.
"I love it," Singh said of the often-hectic pace. "You have freedom to shoot whenever you want, so you never think about it and (the coaches) never get on you for shooting the ball.
"We also run a really great fast break, so we always have plenty of shot opportunities for everyone."
Singh made the most of his. He drilled 12-of-his 16 shots, and sometimes did so with defenders hanging on him or pushing him down.
"It seemed like everything I threw up there went in," Singh said. "The hoop seemed huge tonight."
It probably seemed that way for just about everyone wearing red. Mundelein hit about 52 percent of its shots, which includes a 39-percent clip from 3-point land. The Mustangs drained eleven 3s.
And yet, Mundelein still had enough energy left over for defense. The Mustangs were quick and active and forced 19 turnovers.
"It was a very exhausting game, running up and down like that," said Lake Zurich guard Connor Mooney, the team's leading scorer. He was limited to just 7 points. "Mundelein is very quick and they move the ball well. And they put a lot of pressure on you defensively. Even just dribbling the ball wasn't easy. It was tough out there."
It got tougher on the Bears as the game progressed.
Mundelein had only a 28-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the margin widened quickly when the Mustangs opened the second quarter with a 20-5 run.
Mundelein, which also got 10 points apiece from Eric Pagsanjan and Kevin Blackowicz, was up by as many as 23 points in the third quarter.
"The best part is that we love seeing the guys from the other team tire out there," said Brust, who transferred in from Hersey. "It just inspires us even more. We run, we push, we have fun. It's awesome out there.
"I was stunned at first at how crazy it is out on the court the whole time. Press, press, press, get back, get back, in their face, deny. But I couldn't be happier right now."