Cobie Barnes had 20 of his career-high 34 points in the second half and Greg Johnson chipped in 15 during a huge second half to lift Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to a 87-72 victory against IU East on Thursday.

SMWC (18-5, 12-1 RSC) trailed by a 35-32 score after the first half, but rebounded in a big way in the second half, maintaining its hold on first place in the RSC.

Barnes evened the score by the 15:38 mark of the second half wit ha 3-point play, but the Pomeroys didn't take control for several more minutes.

DaMeriz Merriweather came up with a steal and layup to put SMWC ahead 49-49 with 11:48 to go. That play sparked a 12-3 run by the Pomeroys. Johnson hit three 3-pointers during the run, while Barnes converted a bucket in the lane.

"It's on my teammates. Cobie Barnes is a big part of what we do here at SMWC. So them just uplifting me in the second half and coach is just telling me 'keep shooting it,'" Johnson said.

While the Pomeroys aren't known for their prolific 3-point shooting, SMWC is 25 of 55 (45.4 percent) over the past three games.

"We've got some big hitters. Me, Tarik and DaMeriz, when we get going, it's hard for teams to beat us," Johnson said.

The Pomeroys are set to take on IU Kokomo (18-5, 8-5 RSC) in a big game Saturday at home.

"Day-by-day. We know it's going to be a tough matchup. We just keep trusting eachother and believing in our coaches, we always think we're going to come out on top," Johnson added.