Ebube, Mundelein bounce Antioch

It's been a rough few weeks for Mundelein junior Chino Ebube.

His grandmother passed and he headed to Nigeria for her funeral. He missed nine games. And then he was back for Friday's game against Stevenson and was on the court again Saturday night, when the Mustangs hosted Antioch.

In the first half of the North Suburban Conference crossover, Ebube hit the boards as if he was after some kind of a record. The 6-foot-3 leaper grabbed 11 rebounds in the game's first 16 minutes.

On paper it was an obvious mismatch. Antioch had 3 wins to its name.

Mundelein had 3 losses to go with 16 wins. And early in the second quarter, the scoreboard read Mundelein 23, Antioch 3.

And just maybe the home team relaxed somewhat.

Late in the third quarter, William Waschow, who scored a game-high 20 points, drilled a 3-pointer. His Sequoits had pulled within 38-31.

Mundelein hit its free throws down the stretch and put away the Sequoits, winning 57-39.

"I was just getting good position," said Ebube. "Coach told me to be aggressive and get the rebounds. I'm glad to be back."

For first-year varsity coach Jim White of Antioch, it was another night to see his club fall behind early.

"It's like a broken record," White said. "We are digging holes that are killing us."

In better news for Antioch (3-15), White told his club to sit back in a 1-2-2 zone and see if Mundelein could hit shots. This underdog outscored the home team 11-2 in the last six minutes before halftime. It even caused Mundelein coach Dick Knar to burn a timeout to get his team focused.

"We relaxed and stopped communicating," Knar said. "But give Antioch some credit. They played harder than we did and it showed."

Waschow had a personal 7-point run in the third quarter.

"We knew what to expect from them," Waschow said. "We have a great coaching staff and we really picked it up."

Known for their good shooting, the Mustangs (17-3) missed seven straight shots to close the first half. Knar didn't like the way his club handled the Antioch zone so he waited all of 22 seconds before calling timeout. It paid off as 10 seconds later, Robert Knar (13 points) drilled a 3-pointer, extending the Mundelein lead to 28-14.

The third quarter also showed off the best play of the game.

Surrounded by defenders, Mundelein guard Nate Brune threw a behind-the-back pass to Nate Williams for a layup, giving the Mustangs a 35-23 lead.

Mundelein had good scoring balance. Sean O'Brien matched Knar with 13 points, while Cliff Dunigan checked with 9 points. Williams, Brune and Ebube each had 5 points.

"We didn't shoot well," said coach Knar. "But we were able to pressure them defensively and get some easy baskets."

Karl Nettgen added 7 points for Antioch.