MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Kaskaskia rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to defeat Wabash Valley, 85-80, in Great Rivers Athletic Conference men's basketball on Saturday.
The loss snapped a season-best four-game winning streak for the Warriors, now 14-12 on the year and 7-7 in the league. Kaskaskia improved to 17-9 and 7-6.
WVC led at one point, 62-43, but the lead was still 13 points at the six-minute mark, 74-61, after a rebound basket by Deahaun Nettles.
Kaskaskia scored the next eight points in a row, the surge halted by an inside bucket by Kshaun Casey that hiked the Warrior lead back to 76-69.
A Jakobi Heady tip-in after a Blue Devil basket put the Warriors on top 78-71 with 3:26 left.
Over the following two minutes, Kaskaskia ripped off 12 unanswered points that decided the game, the first nine of those points coming in nine shots at the free throw line. Seven came from Jhei-R Jones alone, who was fouled three times including once from beyond the arc line.
Then the dagger came in the form of a 3-point field goal by Zavian Jackson with 1:27 left that put Kaskaskia ahead 83-78.
Jones led the Blue Devils in scoring with 32 points. Jackson added 21.
Wabash Valley led at halftime, 47-31, after overcoming an early Kaskaskia lead with a 9-2 run that gave the Warriors a six-point lead, 21-15 with 12:22 left in the half.
They built the lead from there until it had reached 19 points in the first five minutes of the second half.
Casey, unstoppable at times inside, finishing 10-of-13 from the field, led the Warriors with 21 points. Heady was next with 20 points.
In fact, the whole starting lineup finished in double figures. Gary Clay had 13 points, Brandon Rayzer-Moore 11, and Jaylen Boyd 10.
For Casey, it was a double-double on the night, with 12 rebounds added to his stat line.
The Warriors ended up with four more baskets than Kaskaskia and an equal number of triples. The difference, though, came at the free throw stripe, where the Blue Devils hit 21-of-27 while the Warriors were only 8-of-13.
Wabash Valley heads for Lewis & Clark (8-13) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday for a Region 24 game. The Warriors then return to Spencer Sports Center on Saturday afternoon for their final GRAC home game of the year, against Olney Central (16-7, 10-4).