John Carroll becomes just the fourth team since the 1978-79 season to win three consecutive OAC regular season titles, joining Otterbein (1985-87 and 1990-92) and Ohio Northern (1999-2001) in that elite company.
Even against the ninth place team in the standings, the win did not come easy for JCU. Although the Blue Streaks took the lead for good on a Justin Ragor three-pointer at the 14:00 mark of the first half, the issue was not settled until the final eight minutes of the game.
The Blue Streaks had built a 36-24 lead in the first half withy 5:10 to play, but the host Student Princes scored 13 of the final 19 points of the half to cut JCU’s halftime lead to 42-37.
Heidelberg continued its momentum in the second half, and trailed by just a single point at 57-56 when Mitchell Goldsmith made a lay-up at the 13:17 mark. It was still a three point game with 8:41 to play when Ron Higgins connected on a lay-up to make the score 73-70 in John Carroll’s favor.
That was when the Blue Streaks began to pull away. A 12-2 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Brandon Mimes lay-up with 5:31 remaining, pushed John Carroll’s lead into double digits at 85-73. Heidelberg would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
All ten players who entered the game for John Carroll (19-4, 13-4 OAC) also entered the scorebook, led by 24 points from Mimes, who was 8-11 from the field and 8-12 from the free throw line. He also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Four other Blue Streaks reached double figures, including Michael Grogan (15), Ragor (14), Demetrius Travis (12) and Pete Moran (11). John Carroll shot a season-best 35-62 (.565) from the field, including 20-28 (.714) in the second half.
Heidelberg (7-17, 4-13 OAC), which was eliminated from postseason contention despite shooting 32-56 (.571) from the field, was led by Greg Tyson’s game-high 32 points. Tyson was 11-15 from the field, 2-3 from three-point range, and 8-9 from the charity stripe. Shawn Shriver added 13 points and Goldsmith contributed 12 points to the cause.
John Carroll will attempt to win the OAC title outright on Saturday at home against Ohio Northern.
John Carroll University vs Heidelberg College 2/16/05 7:30 p.m. at Seiberling Gymnasium, Tiffin,OH JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY 100, HEIDELBERG COLLEGE 91 JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY (19-4, 13-4) Brandon Mimes 8-11 8-12 24; Michael Grogan 4-6 5-6 15; Justin Ragor 5-7 0-0 14; Demetrius Travis 5-10 2-2 12; Pete Moran 2-2 5-6 11; Andrew Salata 4-7 0-2 8; Kyle Roggenburk 3-6 0-0 6; John Curran 2-7 0-0 5; Joe Kimener 1-2 1-1 3; Chris Day 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 35-62 21-29 100. HEIDELBERG COLLEGE (7-17, 4-13) Greg Tyson 11-15 8-9 32; Shawn Shriver 4-10 4-6 13; Mitchell Goldschmidt 4-5 4-4 12; Brian Schmidt 5-8 1-5 11; Ron Higgins 4-7 2-2 10; Matt Eberle 2-5 0-0 4; Scott Morrison 1-1 0-0 3; Andrew Lemmon 1-4 0-0 3; T.J. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 22-30 91. John Carroll University....... 42 58 - 100 Heidelberg College............ 37 54 - 91 3-point goals-John Carroll University 9-18 (Justin Ragor 4-6; Pete Moran 2-2; Michael Grogan 2-4; John Curran 1-4; Chris Day 0-2), Heidelberg College 5-17 (Greg Tyson 2-3; Shawn Shriver 1-6; Andrew Lemmon 1-3; Scott Morrison 1-1; Matt Eberle 0-2; T.J. Johnson 0-1; Mitchell Goldschmidt 0-1). Fouled out--John Carroll University-None, Heidelberg College-Scott Morrison. Rebounds-John Carroll University 34 (Brandon Mimes 11), Heidelberg College 26 (Brian Schmidt 4; Josh Dickey 4; Ron Higgins 4). Assists-John Carroll University 14 (Michael Grogan 3), Heidelberg College 13 (Matt Eberle 4). Total fouls-John Carroll University 25, Heidelberg College 23. A-202