Joe West nearly contributed half of Excel's points in the game, ending his day with a game-high 30. Mason Butt added 13 points, Seth Curlee and Greg Gore 5 each, D.J. Garnigan and Zach daCamara 4 each and Tucker West 2.
Of West's offensive outburst, Eagles coach Gary Boulier, Jr. said, "He scored basically half our points and, to be honest, he should have scored more. ... He could have easily scored 35 or [36].
"He scored 30 [despite] missing some easy shots."
Excel relied on West heavily in the first half when Mount Zion caught the Eagles flat-footed to establish an 11-8 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Excel surged ahead to take a 23-17 lead at halftime.
"Joe West made one basket in the first half, but he went to the line 10 times. He carried us in the first half," Boulier said. "Without him ... we would have been down even [more] in the first quarter."
Boulier said Excel moved the ball well, from time to time, against Mount Zion's 1-3-1 half-court trap.
"We were able to take advantage of it at times," he continued. "If we passed the ball a little better in the first half, it wouldn't have been as close as it was in the first half. We left a lot of points on the floor."
The Eagles maintained their lead in the third quarter, even extending it by one point as they led Mount Zion 40-33 heading into the fourth.
"That was an ugly win, but it's a win," Boulier admitted. "That's what it is at this time of the year -- do whatever it takes to win. We didn't play our best, but we did what we had to [in order] to win. ... Earlier in the year, we would have lost this game."
Fourth-seeded Excel (10-15), which lost a head-to-head tiebreaker with eventual No. 3 seed Gordon Lee, lost by two points (56-54) to Mount Zion in the regular season before exacting a measure of payback Monday.
The Eagles hope to put themselves in that type of a position Thursday night when they face the No. 1 team from the south sub-region -- North Cobb Christian.
Excel lost to North Cobb Christian, 93-49, Saturday during the latter's Senior Night. West scored 21 points for the Eagles in defeat.
Boulier hopes that by keeping the tempo at their pace, Excel may be able to stay close enough to make things interesting.
"They haven't lost to anybody they've played in Georgia," he said in reference to North Cobb Christian's only two losses to out-of-state teams Faith Christian Academy (Orlando, Fla.) and The McCallie School (Chattanooga, Tenn), "but we're going to see what we can do."
Excel's game with North Cobb Christian (23-2) tips off at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
A win would give the Eagles a berth in the Class A Georgia High School Association state tournament.