Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Final: John Carroll 84, Mount Union 80
DeCarlo Varsity Center
University Heights, Ohio
John Carroll overcame a 20-point first half deficit to defeat Mount Union, 84-80, and keep a share of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Mount Union threatened to blow John Carroll out of its own gym, scoring 35 points over the first ten minutes to take a 35-15 lead. In fact, the Purple Raiders made 15 of their first 18 shots from the field, including seven of eight from three point range.
The Purple Raiders still held a 20-point lead at 41-21 with 6:52 left in the half when John Carroll finally began to climb back into the game. Seven different Blue Streaks scored during a 19-3 run over the final seven minutes of the period, capped by Jerry Angel’s lay-up off a missed shot with two seconds left that cut the Mount Union lead down to 44-40 as the teams headed for the locker room.
JCU stayed aggressive to open the second half, and took its first lead on a three-pointer by Angel with 18:15 showing on the clock to give the Blue Streaks 45-44 advantage.
The two teams swapped baskets for a few minutes, leaving the score tied at 51-51. That was when John Carroll attempted to pull away, as a 12-2 run gave the Blue Streaks their largest lead of the game at 63-53 with 12:38 left.
Mount Union steadily chipped away at the lead, and pulled to within two points at 75-73 on a Brad Gerard three-pointer with 2:30 remaining in the contest. The Blue Streaks stretched the lead to five points on three occasions but could never quite create space. Another Gerard three-pointer with eight seconds left made the score 82-80, but Pete Moran made both free throws after being fouled off the in-bounds pass to seal the win.
John Carroll (15-4, 10-3 OAC), which held on to its first-place standing to remain tied with crosstown rival Baldwin-Wallace atop the OAC, was led by Angel’s 17 points. The junior forward was 7-11 from the field, including 3-6 from three-point range. David Gibbons and Brandon Mimes each added 13 points and Pete Moran added ten as the lue Streaks increased their home court winning streak to 23 consecutive games.
Mount Union (12-8, 7-6 OAC) shot a blistering 12-19 (.632) from three-point range and was led by Gerard’s 20 points. The junior guard was 7-10 from the field, including 6-8 from beyond the arc. Curtis Stevens added 13 points.
Mount Union vs John Carroll - Men's Basketball 02/04/04 7:30 pm at DeCarlo Varsity Center At DeCarlo Varsity Center JOHN CARROLL 84, MOUNT UNION 80 MOUNT UNION (12-8, 7-6 OAC) Brad Gerard 7-10 0-0 20; Curtis Stevens 6-11 0-0 13; Chris Blakely 4-6 0-0 9; Rob Paulauskas 2-4 4-5 8; Jarrod Ferwerda 3-6 0-0 8; Clay Sanders 3-3 0-0 6; Brett Hershberger 1-3 2-2 5; Tony Basalla 2-3 0-1 5; Kyle Karpinski 0-4 4-4 4; Jason Smith 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-52 10-12 80. JOHN CARROLL (15-4, 10-3 OAC) Jerry Angel 7-11 0-0 17; Brandon Mimes 4-5 5-8 13; David Gibbons 5-11 2-4 13; Pete Moran 3-5 4-4 10; Matthew Moran 2-5 5-6 9; Michael Grogan 2-8 3-4 8; Jon Franks 3-3 0-0 6; Andrew Salata 1-1 2-4 4; Peter Koch 0-4 2-2 2; Demetrius Travis 0-1 2-2 2; Daniel Budzar 0-1 0-0 0; Justin Ragor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 25-34 84. Mount Union................... 44 36 - 80 John Carroll.................. 40 44 - 84 3-point goals-Mount Union 12-19 (Brad Gerard 6-8; Jarrod Ferwerda 2-3; Curtis Stevens 1-3; Tony Basalla 1-1; Chris Blakely 1-2; Brett Hershberger 1-2), John Carroll 5-15 (Jerry Angel 3-6; David Gibbons 1-3; Michael Grogan 1-4; Matthew Moran 0-1; Justin Ragor 0-1). Fouled out--Mount Union-Chris Blakely; Rob Paulauskas, John Carroll-Jon Franks. Rebounds-Mount Union 27 (Chris Blakely 6), John Carroll 32 (Jerry Angel 4; Matthew Moran 4; Justin Ragor 4; David Gibbons 4). Assists-Mount Union 12 (Tony Basalla 5), John Carroll 10 (Peter Koch 2; Jon Franks 2; Michael Grogan 2; Andrew Salata 2). Total fouls-Mount Union 24, John Carroll 19. A-884