The victory assures John Carroll of at least a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles, and can still win the title outright if Baldwin-Wallace loses to Otterbein this evening. Regardless of the outcome of that game, the Blue Streaks did lock down the #1 seed in next week’s OAC Tournament.
Marietta and John Carroll battled evenly over the first eight minutes of the game before the visiting Blue Streaks made the first burst of the game. Trailing 13-12 with just under 12 minutes to play, JCU would score the next nine points of the game, capped by a Michael Grogan three-pointer that put the Blue Streaks up, 21-13, with 10:18 showing on the clock.
John Carroll extended its lead to 11 points at 27-16 when Matt Moran made a lay-up with 7:29 left in the opening period.
The Pioneers made a run of their own, and trimmed the lead to three points when Brian Tennant threw down a dunk with 1:53 left in the half to make the score 32-29 in the Blue Streaks’ favor. JCU scored seven of the final nine points of the half, however, and took a 39-31 lead into the locker room.
Marietta seemed poised for the upset win in the second half, not only taking the lead but pushing it out to five points when Cody Lane dropped a pair of free throws to give the Pioneers a 51-46 lead with 14:08 remaining in regulation.
JCU would shut down Marietta from that point on, allowing just 13 points over the final 14 minutes of play. In the meantime, the trio of Gibbons, Mimes and Matt Moran would score 28 of John Carroll’s final 30 points. Mimes scored all 12 of his points in that stretch of time.
The Blue Streaks grabbed the lead for good with 11:42 left on a Mimes lay-up that made the score 52-51, and stretched its lead into double figures on a Mat Moran three-pointer with 4:42 left that put the Blue Streaks up 68-58. Marietta never got closer than ten points the rest of the way.
John Carroll (19-5, 14-4 OAC), which claimed its second consecutive OAC regular season crown, was led by David Gibbons’ 20 points. Mimes added 12 and Matt Moran 10 for the Blue Streaks, who outrebounded Marietta, 40-24.
Marietta (10-15, 5-13 OAC) was paced by Lane’s 15 points, while Dan Richards and Matt Hines added 13 points apiece.
JCU will host an OAC Tournament Quarterfinal Round contest on Wednesday, February 25, against either #8 seed Marietta or #9 seed Heidelberg, at 7:30 p.m. This is John Carroll’s fifth OAC regular season title since 1994.
John Carroll vs Marietta College - Men's Basketball 2/21/04 3:00 p.m. at Marietta, Ohio - Ban Johnson Arena At Marietta, Ohio - Ban Johnson Arena JOHN CARROLL 76, MARIETTA COLLEGE 64 JOHN CARROLL (19-5, 14-4 OAC) David Gibbons 8-12 4-9 20; Brandon Mimes 3-3 6-8 12; Matthew Moran 4-7 0-0 10; Andrew Salata 4-7 0-1 8; Peter Koch 2-4 2-2 7; Michael Grogan 2-10 1-2 6; Jon Franks 1-2 3-4 5; Jerry Angel 2-10 0-0 4; Pete Moran 1-3 0-0 2; Demetrius Travis 1-2 0-0 2; Daniel Budzar 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 16-26 76. MARIETTA COLLEGE (10-15, 5-13 OAC) Cody Lane 2-8 10-14 15; Dan Richards 4-8 3-4 13; Matt Hines 5-9 1-3 13; Brian Tennant 3-3 2-2 9; Scott Laslo 2-7 0-1 5; Jason Collier 1-2 2-4 4; Andrew Gottfried 1-3 0-0 3; Matt Rucker 0-1 2-2 2; Brett Atheron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 20-30 64. John Carroll.................. 39 37 - 76 Marietta College.............. 31 33 - 64 3-point goals-John Carroll 4-12 (Matthew Moran 2-3; Michael Grogan 1-3; Peter Koch 1-1; Jerry Angel 0-4; David Gibbons 0-1), Marietta College 8-21 (Matt Hines 2-4; Dan Richards 2-4; Brian Tennant 1-1; Scott Laslo 1-3; Cody Lane 1-6; Andrew Gottfried 1-3). Fouled out--John Carroll-None, Marietta College-None. Rebounds-John Carroll 40 (Jerry Angel 7; Andrew Salata 7), Marietta College 24 (Dan Richards 4; Matt Hines 4; Brian Tennant 4). Assists-John Carroll 8 (Jerry Angel 2; Peter Koch 2), Marietta College 12 (Brian Tennant 4). Total fouls-John Carroll 24, Marietta College 21. A-817