WATERLOO -- In a season where league wins have been hard to come by, Waterloo West and Cedar Xavier spent the earlier portion of Tuesday night's Mississippi Valley Conference dust-up searching for some consistency.

Xavier found it, West didn't.

The Saints solved the West's full-court press and used a 41-point second half to secure a 66-49 road win at Siddens Gymnasium.

West (5-8, 2-7 MVC) built first half leads of 12-5 and 21-15, but was never able to deliver a knockout blow. Xavier (4-10, 3-6) took a 24-23 lead into intermission when Ben McDermott followed up a pair of transition layups and an uncontested bucket off an inbound pass with a 3-pointer from the wing to cap a 9-2 run.

The Saints continued to pour on the points from their as they recovered from a 3 of 12 effort from the field in the first quarter by hitting 25 of their final 37 shots.

"It showed a lot of maturity," Xavier Coach Matt Jenkins said, addressing his team's mid-game adjustment. "Starting at the beginning of the year until now, our guys are able to handle pressure a little bit better and we're comfortable with each other now. A lot of different guys stepped up and everybody is taking ownership and doing their job."

Mitch McLaughin and Kevin Hosch scored a team-high 13 points for Xavier, while Carter Valentine provided a burst off the bench with 12 points. Valentine proved tough to stop off the dribble, finishing all six of his field goals from close range and also dishing off to teammates.

"We just wanted to run the ball, get the ball down the court and get easy layups," Valentine said. "We were working together great and it just worked out."

Junior forward Dale Jones tried to keep West in the game with a third-quarter steal and dunk that accounted for two of hits game-high 21 points, but he was the only Wahawk to hit over half his shot attempts against Xavier's 2-3 zone.

"We just never got into a good rhythm shooting tonight," West Coach Justin Little said. "Against a zone you've really got to work the ball around the perimeter and swing the ball quickly and get some easy looks. We didn't really do that."

XAVIER (66): Mitch McLaughlin 4-9 2-2 13, Ben McDermott 3-8 0-0 9, Kevin Hosch 6-9 0-0 13, Nolan Dunkirk 2-2 0-0 4, Carter Valentine 6-10 0-3 12, Alec Clasen 2-5 1-2 5, Ryan Mains 3-3 0-0 6, Mack Mattke 2-3 0-1 4. Totals 28-44 3-7 66.

WEST (49): Trent Washington 4-16 0-0 10, Dominick Smith 2-6 0-0 4, DiMarco Mallett 2-5 0-0 5, Daquan Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Isaah Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Carderrius Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Dale Jones 9-16 2-2 21, Tre Johnson 1-4 1-2 3, Austin McMahon 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 21-60 3-4 49.

Halftime -- Xavier 24, West 23. 3-point goals -- Xavier 7 (McLaughlin 3, McDermott 3, Hosch); West 4 (Washington 2, Mallett, Jones). Total fouls -- Xavier 10, West 13. Fouled out -- none.