This is the first time John Carroll has lost three home games in a row since they lost four in a row during the middle of the 1991-1992 campaign.
With the score tied at 56-56, Mount Union senior Tony Basalla made a driving lay-up with 1:09 left in regulation to give the Purple Raiders what proved to be the winning points.
The Blue Streaks had two chance to tie or go ahead in the final minute, but turned the ball over on an entry pass the first time down the floor and missed a three-pointer with five seconds to play.
A timeout was called by JCU with 17.5 seconds left to set up its final possession. Michael Grogan’s three-point attempt was off the mark, and Mount Union’s Brett Hershberger pulled down the rebound and was fouled with three seconds remaining on the clock. Even though Hershberger missed the front end of his one-and-one, he managed to pull down his own rebound as the clock expired.
In a game that was tied seven times and was closely officiated, John Carroll had its chances to win. The Blue Streaks went up 49-46 on a pair of foul shots from Pete Moran with 3:53 left to play only to have Hershberger make back-to-back three pointers to give the Purple Raiders a three-point edge at 52-49. Moran answered with his own three ball to tie the score at 52-52 with 3:07 showing on the clock.
The game was tied again at 54-54 and 56-56, setting up Basalla’s winning basket.
Neither team had a particularly good shooting night. For the game Mount Union shot .393% (22-56) from the field, .333 (6-18) from the three-point arc, and .500 (8-16) from the foul line. John Carroll fared worse, shooting .360 (18-50) from the field and .273 (3-11) from three-point land. The Blue Streaks did manage to make their free throws at a 17-22 (.773) clip.
Mount Union (10-10, 6-7 OAC), which snapped a three-game losing streak at the hands of John Carroll, was led by Kyle Karpinski’s 19 points. Hershberger added 12 and Chris Blakely dropped in ten points for the Purple Raiders.
John Carroll (15-3, 9-3 OAC), which fell out of first place in the OAC for the first time all season, was led by Andrew Salata’s 14 points off the bench. He was 5-9 from the field and 4-5 from the line. Moran and Grogan both scored ten for the Blue Streaks.
The two-point victory for the Purple Raiders continued what has been a series of close games between the two rivals. Dating back to the 2000-2001 season, eight of the last eleven games played in the series have been decided by four points or less.
Mount Union vs John Carroll 02/02/05 7:30pm at University Heights MOUNT UNION 58, JOHN CARROLL 56 MOUNT UNION (10-10, 6-7) Kyle Karpinski 7-13 4-8 19; Brett Hershberger 4-10 0-1 12; Chris Blakely 4-6 2-3 10; Clay Sanders 2-4 1-2 5; Tony Basalla 2-6 1-2 5; Brad Gerard 2-10 0-0 5; Josh Long 1-4 0-0 2; Clay Long 0-1 0-0 0; Adam Stinogle 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 8-16 58. JOHN CARROLL (15-3,9-3) Andrew Salata 5-9 4-5 14; Pete Moran 2-5 4-4 10; Michael Grogan 3-8 3-5 10; Brandon Mimes 3-8 3-4 9; Justin Ragor 1-6 3-4 5; Demetrius Travis 2-6 0-0 4; Peter Koch 1-4 0-0 2; Kyle Roggenburk 1-2 0-0 2; John Curran 0-1 0-0 0; Chris Day 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 17-22 56. Mount Union................... 25 33 - 58 John Carroll.................. 18 38 - 56 3-point goals-Mount Union 6-18 (Brett Hershberger 4-7; Brad Gerard 1-6; Kyle Karpinski 1-3; Tony Basalla 0-1; Adam Stinogle 0-1), John Carroll 3-11 (Pete Moran 2-2; Michael Grogan 1-4; Justin Ragor 0-3; Peter Koch 0-1; John Curran 0-1). Fouled out--Mount Union-Josh Long; Chris Blakely, John Carroll-Pete Moran. Rebounds-Mount Union 30 (Chris Blakely 6; Josh Long 6), John Carroll 43 (Demetrius Travis 10). Assists-Mount Union 13 (Clay Sanders 6), John Carroll 8 (Michael Grogan 3). Total fouls-Mount Union 21, John Carroll 17. A-967