No one in attendance left the DeCarlo Varsity Center feeling cheated Saturday afternoon, as the game to decide sole possession of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference between the John Carroll Blue Streaks and the Wilmington Quakers was indeed a battle to the end.
The memory of their last meeting supplied the motivation for the Streaks to pull through in the end with an 82-77 win.
Box Score
In the first game between the top two teams in the conference, the Quakers handed the Blue Streaks a heart-breaking defeat, 107-105, in triple overtime.
This time, it would be a late three-pointer by John Carroll sophomore Michael Hartnett that provided a similar heart-wrenching moment for Wilmington.
With JCU nursing a 78-77 lead entering the final minute, Hartnett tried to give the Blue Streaks a two-possession lead but struck the back iron.
The rebound, however, landed in the hands of John Carroll senior Rudy Kirbus. The Blue Streaks would reset their offense, and after Corey Shontz drove the baseline, he found Hartnett in the corner. This time, with 18 seconds left, Hartnett’s three-point shot was true.
“We were hungry,” said Hartnett, who had a total of nine points. “We wanted this game bad. We were well rested and we came with a lot of enthusiasm”
The Streaks took to the court with intensity as sophomore Matt Crozier put the first six points on the scoreboard. The Streaks kept a steady lead through the first half until the Quakers tied matters up for the first time at 20-20 with 8:24 left to go.
However, Kirbus sank back-to-back three’s to break the tie, and the Streaks would build a nine-point lead at the half, 46-35.
The second half proved to be a dramatic one for both teams.
The Blue Streaks managed to never relinquish the lead despite going over ten minutes without a field goal in the second half. Between a Hartnett three ball at the 13:19 mark and a Chris Zajac lay-up with 3:11 to play, JCU was 0-7 from the floor while going 10-17 from the free throw line.
“We aggressively went towards the basket, that’s how we got those fouls,” said John Carroll head coach Mike Moran. “By not being passive, we still got the points.”
Wilmington would tie the game twice in the second half – at 65-65 on a R. J. Brown lay-up with 5:58 remaining, and again at 72-72 on a three-point play by Brandon Rogers with 3:31 left to play.
But JCU would persevere thanks to a pair of baskets from Zajac and clutch free throws by Meyer that kept the Blue Streaks in position to put the game away on Hartnett’s dramatic three-point shot.
“We just kept battling,” said Hartnett of his team that, despite its gaudy offensive numbers coming in, struggled to find the mark. Although Wilmington finished the game with a higher field goal percentage (.552) than John Carroll (.375), it was the Streaks defense and aggressive playing that proved to be a key factor throughout the second half. JCU forced 23 Quakers turnovers with the aid of 11 steals.
Tyler Ledford was the leading scorer for the Quakers with a total of 17 points, while Rogers added 14 on 6-8 shooting from the floor. Tyler White, who had a total of 26 points in the triple overtime affair back in December, was held to 13 points this time around.
Indicative of the effort was an incident that occured with only 4:21 remaining in the highly charged contest. Kirbus ran off the court to the bewilderment of many in the crowd. It turned out to be a ripped shoe. But, even with a shoe change, Kirbus was still able to lead the Streaks with a total of 14 points.
“It’s a big win,” said Kirbus. “And a great feeling.”