With the win, the Blue Streaks advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third consecutive year and up their home record in NCAA postseason games to 6-0 all time. John Carroll will travel to Wittenberg on Saturday night for a rematch of last year’s second round game.
Eight different Blue Streaks tallied points during the second half run as they broke away from an 11-point halftime lead to take command of the game. Sophomore first team All-OAC post player Brandon Mimes had two put back slam-dunks to key the run.
John Carroll, ranked #15 in the nation by D3hoops.com, led by as many as 30 points in the second half en route to the 28-point victory.
Bethany coach Aaron Huffman credited the Blue Streaks pressure defense to controlling the tempo of the game
“They imposed their will on us,” said Huffman. “They took us out of what we wanted to do offensively. Essentially, that is what we had done to teams all season, and it was successful for us. We started pressing, mainly because we have not been in that situation (being behind in a game) in a long time.”
The Bison entered the game averaging 90.1 points per game but did not reach half of their season average until there was 2:24 left in regulation.
“We saw some things on film that we did not want to see happen to us,” said JCU head coach Mike Moran. “Little things like where they wanted to set up with their entry passes. I give credit to our kids. They really hustled and stuck to the game plan. They did not allow Bethany to get into their half court offensive sets, and our constant pressure began to affect them, especially in the second half.”
Mimes scored a game high 21 points to lead John Carroll (22-5) on 9-14 shooting from the field and 3-5 from the foul line. He also pulled down ten rebounds for his tenth double double of the year. Peter Koch had a season high seven steals (all in the first half) to lead the defensive effort that produced 27 Bison turnovers.
John Carroll shot 16-29 (.552) from the field in the second half while the Bison struggled with their shooting all night.
Twin brothers Mike and Matt Drahos were the only players in double figures for Bethany (24-4), who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Bison shot 16-51 (.314) from the field and 5-21 (.238) from three-point range.
The Blue Streaks held a large advantage on the glass, out rebounding the Bison 51-30.
2005 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship - First Round Bethany vs John Carroll 03/03/05 7:00 pm at University Heights, OH DeCarlo Varsity Center JOHN CARROLL 76, BETHANY 48 BETHANY (24-4) Drahos, Mike 3-8 5-6 11; Drahos, Matt 4-11 2-5 10; Deep, Jim 2-7 0-0 6; Duncan, Brandon 2-8 0-1 6; Polantz, Josh 2-2 0-0 5; Sprumont, Joe 1-2 1-2 3; Wallace, James 1-2 0-1 2; Mezyk, Scott 1-6 0-1 2; Jackson, Brody 0-1 2-2 2; Stephens, Chris 0-1 1-2 1; Joyner, Milton 0-2 0-0 0; Spencer, Matt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 11-20 48. JOHN CARROLL (23-5) Brandon Mimes 9-14 3-5 21; Michael Grogan 4-4 0-0 9; Pete Moran 3-6 1-2 8; Justin Ragor 4-8 0-0 8; Rory O'Neil 3-4 0-2 7; Kyle Roggenburk 2-3 2-2 6; Peter Koch 2-7 0-0 4; Andrew Salata 1-3 1-2 3; John Curran 1-7 1-2 3; Chris Day 0-2 3-4 3; Joe Novak 1-1 0-0 2; Demetrius Travis 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 13-21 76. Bethany....................... 24 24 - 48 John Carroll.................. 35 41 - 76 3-point goals-Bethany 5-21 (Duncan, Brandon 2-6; Deep, Jim 2-3; Polantz, Josh 1-1; Mezyk, Scott 0-4; Jackson, Brody 0-1; Joyner, Milton 0-1; Drahos, Matt 0-3; Drahos, Mike 0-2), John Carroll 3-13 (Rory O'Neil 1-1; Pete Moran 1-2; Michael Grogan 1-1; John Curran 0-4; Chris Day 0-1; Justin Ragor 0-4). Fouled out--Bethany-None, John Carroll-None. Rebounds-Bethany 30 (Drahos, Mike 6; Drahos, Matt 6), John Carroll 51 (Brandon Mimes 10). Assists-Bethany 6 (Mezyk, Scott 2; Duncan, Brandon 2; Deep, Jim 2), John Carroll 13 (Michael Grogan 3; Peter Koch 3). Total fouls-Bethany 18, John Carroll 25. A-1765