Brandon Mimes scored 19 of his game high 23 points in the second half to help the Blue Streaks come from behind and clinch their second straight outright regular season conference championship.
John Carroll trailed the Polar Bears until the final 1:23. That was when Drew Salata took a pass from Mimes, who was double-teamed in the post, and converted a lay-up while being fouled. Salata converted the foul shot to give the Blue Streaks a 67-65 lead it would never fully relinquish.
Ohio Northern’s Greg Badenhop tied the score at 67 when he hit a jumper 17 seconds later. Pete Moran answered for John Carroll by converting two foul shots with 35 seconds remaining to give the Blue Streaks the lead for good at 69-67. Mimes (1-2), Moran (2-2) and John Curran (2-2) converted free throws in the final nine seconds to secure the win, all the while not allowing Ohio Northern to attempt a field goal.
In the first half, John Carroll fell behind by a 32-11 score due to poor shooting from both the field and the free-throw line. The Blue Streaks ended the half on a 15-4 run to cut the Polar Bears halftime lead to 36-26.
Another strong start to the second half enabled Ohio Northern to build an 18-point advantage with 15:35 remaining.
That was when Mimes began to take over, scoring nine straight John Carroll points – capped by a dunk – to cut the Polar Bear lead to ten (49-39) with 11:55 to play.
The Blue Streaks would chip at the lead the rest of the way until they finally took over with Salata’s old-fashioned three-point play.
Despite some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, John Carroll was 24-43 (.558) from the charity stripe for the game.
John Carroll (20-4, 14-4 OAC) won its third consecutive OAC title and its second consecutive outright crown. Mimes led the way 23 points, while Moran finished with 13 points, including 8-8 from the foul line. Salata finished with 11 points for John Carroll.
Ohio Northern (14-11, 11-7 OAC) got a team high 15 points from Greg Badenhop. Mark Killian and Nate Lieb chipped in 13 and 12 points respectively for Ohio Northern.
The Blue Streaks will be the number one seed going into next week’s OAC post-season tournament. They will host Wilmington, the eighth seeded team on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., in a quarterfinal round match-up.
Ohio Northern vs John Carroll 02/19/05 3:00 pm at University Heights JOHN CARROLL 74, OHIO NORTHERN 71 OHIO NORTHERN (14-11, 11-7 OAC) Greg Badenhop 6-12 0-2 15; Mark Killian 6-8 1-2 13; Nate Lieb 3-6 4-4 12; Ryan Lee 2-9 3-6 7; Phil Hoying 3-4 1-2 7; Charlie Kelly 0-8 7-10 7; Jared Bostelman 2-5 0-0 5; Kyle Gehle 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 23-54 19-30 71. JOHN CARROLL (20-4, 14-4 OAC) Brandon Mimes 9-14 5-12 23; Pete Moran 2-9 8-8 13; Andrew Salata 4-10 3-9 11; John Curran 1-4 4-4 7; Justin Ragor 2-6 0-1 5; Demetrius Travis 1-3 2-3 4; Chris Day 2-2 0-0 4; Michael Grogan 1-6 0-2 3; Kyle Roggenburk 1-1 0-2 2; Joe Kimener 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 23-57 24-43 74. Ohio Northern................. 36 35 - 71 John Carroll.................. 26 48 - 74 3-point goals-Ohio Northern 6-18 (Greg Badenhop 3-6; Nate Lieb 2-4; Jared Bostelman 1-2; Charlie Kelly 0-5; Kyle Gehle 0-1), John Carroll 4-8 (Pete Moran 1-2; Justin Ragor 1-1; Michael Grogan 1-2; John Curran 1-2; Joe Kimener 0-1). Fouled out--Ohio Northern-Jared Bostelman; Mark Killian; Phil Hoying, John Carroll-Pete Moran. Rebounds-Ohio Northern 39 (Ryan Lee 7; Phil Hoying 7), John Carroll 42 (Demetrius Travis 6; Justin Ragor 6; Brandon Mimes 6; Andrew Salata 6). Assists-Ohio Northern 14 (Ryan Lee 4), John Carroll 10 (Pete Moran 4). Total fouls-Ohio Northern 30, John Carroll 22. A-1478