At least he did Monday night.

With his top scorer on the bench after fouling out with more than five minutes to play in the game, three other rotation regulars with four fouls apiece and his NCAA Division I point guard getting knocked to the floor on a game-tying runner just before the buzzer, the Chaminade basketball coach kept it positive.

“It’s fun, everything is preparation for the postseason,” Bennett said. “You take the adversity as it comes and try to grow from it.”

The adversity was thick and heavy as East St. Louis defeated Chaminade 63-61 in the finale of the Southern Illinois Classic at Lindenwood University Belleville.

The No. 2 large school in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings, East St. Louis (11-4) rebounded from a rough loss Saturday night at Moline, the No. 4 team in the Illinois Associated Press Class 4A poll. 

The Flyers were led by senior swingman and Kansas State recruit Macaleab Rich. The 6-foot-7 Rich scored 27 points, hauled in nine rebounds and handed out four assists. Rich has established himself as the team’s primary distributor while the Flyers continue to shuffle their lineup due to injuries.

“I’ve been running a guard on the wing pretty much since AAU season. I’ve been working on it every day getting better,” Rich said. “It’s normal to me now. I’m getting used to it.”

Senior guard D’Necco Rucker scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds. Junior forward Davis Bynum scored eight points and buried what turned into a pair of game-winning free throws with 4.1 seconds to play.

Senior guard and Cal State Fullerton recruit Antwan Robinson scored five points as he battled his own foul trouble in the first half.

“He got into foul trouble and we’re trying to get through when he gets into foul trouble,” East St. Louis coach Mark Chambers said. “Sometimes you’re not going to score but you can do other things to help us win and I think that’s what he did.”

East St. Louis led 25-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The No. 4 large school, Chaminade (11-3) started to find its range in the second quarter. Senior guard Nilavan Daniels buried back-to-back 3-pointers to cut East St. Louis' lead to 28-23. Junior forward My’Kel Rachel grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a putback to make it 28-25 halfway through the second. 

Rachel had just four points but grabbed seven rebounds, made three steals, blocked one shot and took long shifts defending Rich as Chaminade mixed and matched its man-to-man defense with a zone.

“He’s been slowly progressing all season. When his number was called he was ready,” Bennett said. “I thought he gave us good minutes today and that’s something we can build on.”

East St. Louis led 39-34 at halftime.

Chaminade senior point guard and Southeast Missouri State recruit BJ Ward opened the third quarter on a scoring spree. He knocked down a jumper on the Red Devils first possession. He then followed that with a pullup 3-pointer that tied the game at 39. He scored 11 of his team-high 26 points in the third quarter. But Rich scored eight in a row for the Flyers to push the lead back to 55-47. Chaminade sophomore Collin Keller canned a 3-pointer in the final five seconds of the period to cut the Flyers' lead to 55-50 headed into the fourth.

Freshman forward Jamison White buried a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter. He finished with 10 points while shuttling in and out of the lineup in foul trouble.

Ward knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55 with 5:52 to play. On the next possession Daniels was whistled for his fifth foul. The Red Devils top scorer with a 20.9 points per game average, he finished with 12 as he too shuttled in and out of the lineup with foul trouble.

When Daniels went to the bench East Side senior center Cameron Boone missed the front end of one and the bonus free throws. Ward then went coast-to-coast for a layup to give the Red Devils a 57-55 lead, their first lead since mid-way through the first quarter. He finished with three rebounds and four assists.

“BJ is a senior point guard that has been through all the wars and it’s good to see him ready for the moment,” Bennett said. “We’re not surprised by it.”

Rich tied the game at 57 when he knocked down a pair of free throws after Rachel was tagged with his fourth foul with 3:11 to play.

White answered with a jumper for Chaminade and a 59-57 lead with 2:50 to play.

Rich came right back with a layup of his own and after an empty trip for the Red Devils, did it again to push the Flyers ahead 61-59 with 1:23 to go.

White then tied the game again when he scored a layup after a gorgeous spin move that had his defender going one way while he went the other with 1:07.

East St. Louis was content to run down the clock before initiating its offense. Bynum caught the ball on the left wing and drove to the lane and when he rose up White was tagged with his fourth foul with 4.1 seconds remaining.

Bynum buried both free throws to grab the lead.

The Red Devils got the ball to Ward who hustled down the court, got into the paint and as he got the runner off before the buzzer was knocked to the floor but the game was over.

Chaminade has now lost back-to-back games for the first time this season after reigning Illinois Class 3A champion Sacred Heart-Griffin knocked it off on Saturday.

East St. Louis had escaped with a wild win over an excellent opponent.

“We’re a resilient group. We may bend, but we’re not going to break,” Chambers said. “Like I told my guys, good teams are able to bounce back after a loss. That’s what we did today.”