By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

As Vince Lombardi once said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

The St. Joseph Flyers got going Saturday night.

Down seven points going into the fourth quarter, the Flyers rallied behind the shooting of Justin Mahlmeister and a tough defense to beat the Green Bobcats 64-55.

“We played tough. We played smart and kept our heads and battled back even though we fell behind,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams. “We played good defense, Justin made some shots and Troy Scott hit a big 3.”

Mahlmeister scored a game-high 24 points including 20 in the second half and 12 in the pivotal third quarter. He also had 8 rebounds.

Eli Lewis had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for the Flyers (7-6) while Zack Dalton scored a career-high 11 points.

“Zack Dalton played the best game of his career,” said Williams. “Everybody contributed. Ike Palmer has a huge blister on his foot and played the whole game. I don’t know how he did it.”

Rob Applegate and Cody Bruce scored 12 points each and Tyler Crace 11 to pace Green (2-11).

Lewis had 7 points in the first quarter to give St. Joseph a 13-11 lead.

Each team had 12 points in the second quarter and it was 25-23 at the break.

Applegate scored 9 points and Crace hit a pair 3-pointers as Green took a 47-40 lead after three quarter.

Mahlmeister hit back-to-back trifectas to spark the comeback and went 4-for-4 at the line. Dalton was 3-4 at the line as the Flyers converted 11 of 15 free throws in the final quarter.

Bruce had all 8 of Green’s points in the quarter.

Green 11 12 24 8 = 55

St. Joseph 13 12 15 24 = 64

GREEN (2-11): Steve Blanton 0 0 0-2 0, Rob Applegate 4 1 1-2 12, Clay Applegate 2 0 2-3 6, Cody Bruce 5 0 2-3 12, Tyler Crace 1 3 0-0 11, Colton Brammer 1 2 1-1 9, Adam Riffitt 2 0 1-3 5. Totals: 21-48 7-14 55. 3-point goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 26 (Riffitt 12, C. Applegate 5). Assists: 3. Steals: 3 (Crace 2). Turnovers: 5. Blocked shots: 1 (Riffitt). Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Riffitt, Bruce.

SAINT JOSEPH (7-6): Grant Geswein 0 0 0-0 0, Ike Palmer 0 0 1-5 1, Joseph Payton 1 0 0-0 2, Zack Dalton 2 1 3-4 11, Eli Lewis 6 0 5-9 17, Justin Mahlmeister 6 2 8-9 24, Troy Scott 2 1 1-2 8, Lane Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-48 18-29 64. 3-point goals: 4-10. Rebounds: 30 (Lewis 10, Mahlmeister 8). Assists: 7 (Palmer 3). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 7. Blocked shots: 4 (Lewis 3). Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.