By Dave Cosart
ADA — In a back and forth game that came down to the last shot, Ohio Northern was able to hang on for a 74-72 win over John Carroll in Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
With the win, the Polar Bears improve to 17-6 overall, 11-5 in the OAC, while the Blue Streaks fall to 17-5 overall, 12-4 in the OAC.
The first 20 minutes of the contest were tightly contested, as there were 11 lead changes. The biggest lead for either team came at the 6:35 mark, when ONU took a 25-18 lead on a lay-up by Sam Mikolajewski.
John Carroll’s Michael Grogan started the second half on fire, hitting back- to- back three-pointers to give JCU a 45-37 lead with 17:32 to go in the game.
After two free throws by Grogan gave the Blue Streaks a 59-55 lead, Northern took its first lead since the first half when a three by Jim Conrad and a field goal by Mikolajewski gave them a 60-59 lead with 7:59 remaining.
Chad Bostelman capped a 10-0 run as he nailed a three with 5:35 to go in the game to put ONU up 65-59.
24 seconds later, Greg Badenhop hit a three-point field goal after two Pete Moran free throws pulled JCU to 65-61, to give Northern a 68-61 lead with 5:11 remaining.
After Mark Killian tipped in a Badenhop miss to make it 70-64 with 3:38 remaining, John Carroll scored six consecutive points to tie the score at 70 with 1:18 to go on a tip-in by David Gibbons.
Northern then went up 72-70 on the ensuing possession with two free throws by Mark Killian, with 1:07 to go.
After Bostelman missed two free throws for Northern with 4.7 seconds left, John Carroll’s Peter Koch, who hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to beat ONU 73-70 earlier in the season at JCU, had a chance at a final shot with , but his off-balance three-point shot at the buzzer hit the front rim.
“I’m proud of the kids, we beat a very good basketball team,” ONU head coach Joe Campoli said. “They knocked us down, but they didn’t knock us out, we took good shots down the stretch and limited them to one shot.”
John Carroll out-rebounded Northern 44-29, grabbing 19 offensive boards.
ONU was led by Conrad with 15 points, while Badenhop added 14 points, including four threes, and Killian had 12.
John Carroll was led by Brandon Mimes, who had a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Jerry Angel and Moran added 14 points each, and Grogan had 12.
ONU returns to actioin on Wednesday when they host Heidelberg at 7:30 pm.