Mount St. Joseph sophomore Phil Booth and junior Kameron Williams combined for 44 points and shot a combined 83 percent from the floor and the Gaels used a suffocating second half defense to pull away for a 56-39 victory over visiting McDonogh (9-5) Tuesday night.
McDonogh's Kayel Locke (team-high 18 points) made a short jumper 19 seconds into the third quarter to tie the game at 23-23, before the Gaels (14-1) responded with an 11-0 run that put the game out for reach.
Lavon Long (6 rebounds) started the run when he converted a pass from Charlie Jones.
Jones' steal led to his perimeter basket and Williams followed with a steal and layup for a 29-23 lead.
Another steal by Jones ended with a nifty putback by Booth. Booth's fourth three-pointer of the night made it 34-23 with 4:27 left and the Eagles never threatened.
McDonogh scored just eight points and made one field goal in the third quarter.
They had only 18 points the entire half going against a 2-3 zone, which the Gaels went to when they extended the lead.
"We just felt like we haven't played zone in 10 or 11 years and we've been working on that and I give coach (Doug) Nicholas credit because he's been talking me into it," Mount St. Joseph coach Pat Clatchey said. "We thought tonight was an opportune time to give them a different look and make them shoot from the perimeter and rebound the ball."
The zone was also designed to slow the 6-foot-5 Locke and keep pressure on junior guard B.J. Andrews (15 points).
"Our focus defensively was on Kayel Locke and Andrews," Clatchey said. "Both are very good players and capable scorers. They are going to get their points, but you just have to make them work for it."
Booth and Williams are also proving to be capable scorers who can drain baskets in bunches.
Booth (9 of 11) didn't miss any of his three pointers and scored all 22 of his points in the first three quarters.
Williams (10 of 12) missed his first two shots of the game, but made his last 10 straight field goals and had 10 points in the final period.
Two of his fourth-quarter baskets were crowd pleasers.
The first gave the Gaels a 42-29 lead, when he spun through a double team and was fouled while hitting a bank shot.
"He was playing me too much to the left, so I thought I would spin and shoot a fadeaway," Williams said.
His second fan favorite was a thundering dunk, after a steal that extended the lead to 47-31.
"The dunk gets the crowd into it," Williams said.
Williams and Booth's also gets coach Clatchey into it.
"Phil Booth and Kam were just terrific," Clatchey said. "They hold the ball and they score. I thought Kam was alive in the zone and he got some hands on some balls and got some run outs."
