That pattern continued in the second half. After back-to-back buckets by Dylan Pruemer, the hosts owned an eight-point lead, 39-31, midway through the third period, but BCC was again within five, 43-38, heading into the final eight minutes.

Behind the shooting of Cole Certa, who finished with a game-high 29 points, the Saints threatened to come back and take the lead. Certa knocked down three shots from long range and scored 11 points in the fourth period before fouling out with 17 seconds to play. His second three got BCC to within 47-46 at the 2:36 mark.

But Max Niebrugge, who went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final period, made two and Siemer followed with another bucket to expand the gap to 51-46. Another three by Certa made it 54-51 with 36 seconds still showing, but Max Niebrugge converted two more four shots and Siemer added another to seal the victory.

“That was a toughness win,” Reeder said. “We were down a guy, but everybody raised their level or play and contributed. We really banded together. This was quite a win.”

Two other Shoes that stepped offensively were Siemer and Pruemer. Siemer finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Pruemer cracked double figures for the first time with 12 points. Kayden Althoff helped the Shoes to a 31-14 rebounding advantage by pulling down 10 boards.

“This was back-to-back good games for Dylan,” Reeder noted. “I would think his confidence is way up. But everybody did something great to help us win this game.”

The Shoes improved to 6-1 on the season. They will be back in action Tuesday at Effingham.