The win tonight brings the Blue Streaks back into first place, tied with Baldwin-Wallace with one game remaining in the regular season.
Not noted as a strong free throw shooting team, JCU converted 5-8 (.625) from the charity stripe over the final 40 seconds. The Blue Streaks are ranked 10th in the Ohio Athletic Conference in free throw percentage (.616 for the season)
Baldwin-Wallace had control for the first eleven minutes of the game, taking a 20-11 lead with 12:34 when Tori Davis finished off an old-fashioned three-point play. John Carroll fought back, and grabbed their first lead (27-25) off a three-pointer by John Carroll’s David Gibbons with just under six minutes remaining. After some back-and-forth action, it was the Yellow Jackets who held a 37-36 lead at intermission.
The second half got rolling as John Carroll jumped out to a six-point advantage thanks to a dunk by the Blue Streaks’ Brandon Mimes at the 14:49 mark. The lead eventually stretched to nine with just over five minutes remaining, after a lay-up by John Carroll’s Drew Salata made the score 57-48
Typical of this crosstown rivalry, the Yellow Jackets had one last run in them. Back-to-back three-pointers from Baldwin-Wallace’s Nick Meyer and Jeremy Coffey brought the Yellow Jackets to within two points (58-56) with 2:45 remaining in the game.
When Baldwin-Wallace’s Tom Harrington made a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left, it made the score 61-58 in John Carroll’s favor. That was when the free throw parade began. Jon Franks (3-4), Brandon Mimes (1-2) and Matt Moran (1-2) made the key free throws that kept the Yellow Jackets at bay over that last stretch of the game.
John Carroll (18-6, 13-4 OAC) was led by Matt Moran, who went 4-8 from the field, 3-5 from three-point range, and 3-4 from the foul line, finishing the night with 14 points. David Gibbons chipped in 12 for the Blue Streaks attack, and Franks had a team-high ten rebounds
Baldwin-Wallace (18-5, 13-4 OAC) finished the night with four players in double-figures. Thad Davis had a double-double, leading all scorers with 15 points and leading with 14 rebounds. Jeremy Coffey finished with 12 points, Tori Davis (who left the game at the end of the first half due to an undisclosed injury) added 11 points, and Nick Meyer had 10 points.
John Carroll stretched its home winning streak to 25 games, and has now won seven in a row and 18 of 21 against its crosstown rival.
With the sweep of Baldwin-Wallace, John Carroll owns the possible tiebreaker for the top seed in next week’s OAC Tournament should the two teams finished tied at the end of the regular season, which concludes Saturday.
Baldwin-Wallace vs John Carroll - Men's Basketball 02/18/04 7:30 pm at DeCarlo Varsity Center At DeCarlo Varsity Center JOHN CARROLL 66, BALDWIN-WALLACE 63 BALDWIN-WALLACE (18-6, 13-4 OAC) Thad Davis 7-12 1-2 15; Jeremy Coffey 4-7 3-4 12; Tori Davis 4-7 3-3 11; Nick Meyer 3-4 3-6 10; Keith Aufmuth 2-9 2-4 8; Matt Marks 2-6 0-0 4; Tom Harrington 0-5 3-5 3; Dan Gundert 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 15-24 63. JOHN CARROLL (18-5, 13-4 OAC) Matthew Moran 4-8 3-4 14; David Gibbons 5-14 1-2 12; Jon Franks 1-6 7-11 9; Brandon Mimes 2-2 4-4 8; Michael Grogan 2-11 3-4 8; Andrew Salata 2-4 1-4 5; Jerry Angel 1-10 0-0 3; Pete Moran 1-5 0-2 3; Peter Koch 1-1 0-0 2; Demetrius Travis 1-2 0-0 2; Justin Ragor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-64 19-31 66. Baldwin-Wallace............... 37 26 - 63 John Carroll.................. 36 30 - 66 3-point goals-Baldwin-Wallace 4-16 (Keith Aufmuth 2-5; Jeremy Coffey 1-3; Nick Meyer 1-2; Tom Harrington 0-4; Matt Marks 0-2), John Carroll 7-21 (Matthew Moran 3-5; David Gibbons 1-1; Pete Moran 1-1; Michael Grogan 1-6; Jerry Angel 1-7; Justin Ragor 0-1). Fouled out--Baldwin-Wallace-Thad Davis, John Carroll-Brandon Mimes. Rebounds-Baldwin-Wallace 46 (Thad Davis 14), John Carroll 41 (Jon Franks 10). Assists-Baldwin-Wallace 9 (Keith Aufmuth 4), John Carroll 10 (Peter Koch 4). Total fouls-Baldwin-Wallace 24, John Carroll 21. A-2222