Senior guard Jacob Aune had the quarter of his life in the third period of Friday night's basketball game against Xavier.

But his 19 points in the period were not enough to overcome Xavier's all-around play. The Saints whipped Prairie, 79-59, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Prairie.

Aune went 8 for 10 from the floor and scored 19 points in the quarter as Prairie (5-6, 2-5) tried to come back from a poor first half and catch the Saints. Aune, who finished with a game-high 24, and the Hawks cut the lead to 12 and seemed to have some momentum going in to the fourth quarter.

“He was the one person fighting every possession,” Prairie Coach James Moses said. “Aune was the beneficiary of the offense. He let the game come to him.”

The Saints (4-7, 3-3) answered early in the fourth going inside three straight times to 6-foot-8 Matt Nelson to all but put the game away. The Hawks had no answer for Nelson and the Saints' size inside. Nelson scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter.

“Matt found a way and guys were unselfish getting him the ball. Matt did a nice job kicking it out when he got doubled.” Xavier Coach Matt Jenkins said. “It is harder to beat a team than individuals.”

After Nelson pushed the lead back to 18 the Saints secured the victory from the free throw line. They hit 14 of 16 free throws in the quarter and were 22 of 25 for the game.

“If we don’t hit our free throws like we did that is a lot different game,” Jenkins said of his team's strong shooting.

Ben McDermott added 15 points and Kevin Hosch 13 for Xavier.

Despite being in a loud, hostile gym, the Saints went on a 10-3 run to start the game and led by six after one quarter.

“Xavier just outplayed us,” Moses said. “We didn’t, as a team, come out ready to play.”

The Saints' stingy defense and ability to get in the paint pushed their lead to double digits in the second quarter and they went into the halftime break with a 30-16 lead.

“We needed to get out and play solid defense,” Jenkins said. “We didn’t let key guys (for Prairie) hurt us.”

Jace Hanna added 13 points for Prairie, but Matt MacDougall was held to seven.

The win was Xavier's second of the week. The Saints routed Washington, 58-42, Tuesday. The wins came after a pair of disappointing losses last week to Cedar Falls and Western Dubuque when Xavier played poorly.

“We a taking it one game at a time,” Jenkins said. “We will let the standings fall where they may we just want to continue to improve every game.”

Prairie was coming off a disappointing 65-62 loss to No. 3 Dubuque Senior on Tuesday.

“We are fine. We just have to respond,” Moses said after the loss. “We have to try to learn from tonight’s mistakes to prepare for the next one. We will get ready to go back to work.”

Xavier's next game is Friday at Jefferson. Prairie plays at No. 1 Iowa City West on Friday.

XAVIER (79): Trey Sampson 0 5-6 5, Ben McDermott 6 0-0 15, Kevin Hosch 5 3-3 13, Carter Valentine 2 4-5 8, Mack Mattke 1 2-2 4, Matt Nelson 7 3-3 17, Tanner Frazier 0 0-0 0, Brian Ropp 2 2-2 8, Robbie Thinnes 0 0-0 0, Patrick Mullin 0 0-0 0, Corbin Woods 0 0-0 0, Reggie Schulte 0 0-0 0, Benjamin Breitbach 0 0-0 0. Team 26 22-25 79.

PRAIRIE (59): Jacob Aune 10 1-2 24, Brooks Hehoe 0 1-3 1, Jace Hanna 4 5-7 13, Matt MacDougall 3 1-2 7, Thomas Eilers 2 2-3 7, DeMetrius Harper 0 2-4 2, Kentral Smith 0 0-0 0, Bryce Meeker 0 1-2 1, Garrett Rasmussen 1 0-0 2, Tyler Mougin 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Adams 0 0-0 0, JoJo Simpson 1 0-0 2, Cody Tonyan 0 0-0 0. Team 21 13-23 59.

Halftime – Xavier 30, Prairie 16. 3-point goals – Xavier 5 (McDermott 3, Ropp 2), Prairie 4 (Aune 3, Eilers). Total Fouls – Xavier 17 Prairie 22. Fouled Out – Eilers.