With the win, the No. 2 seed ONU moves its season record to 20-5 overall, while the No. 7 seed JCU ends its season with a 12-14 overall record.
The Bears will face the No. 3 seed Muskingum Friday evening at 6 pm in the semifinals at top-seeded Baldwin-Wallace’s campus in Berea. Muskingum defeated No. 6 seed Otterbein 81-62 on Wednesday to advance into the semifinals.
Senior Nate Lieb scored a game-high 14 points to lead five ONU players in double figures. Juniors Bart Hostetler and Jared Bostelman each chipped in 11 points apiece. Another pair of juniors, Ryan Lee and Greg Badenhop, each added 10 points
Hostetler contolled the boards for ONU, by grabbing nine rebounds.
John Carroll took control of the game early, jumping out to a quick 11-2 lead with 14:36 left in the half. The Blue Streaks were paced by Justin Ragor’s four points during the run.
Badenhop hit a layup with 5:57 left in the first half to cut the JCU lead to 18-17. The two teams traded baskets but Bostelman nailed a three-pointer with 2:17 left and the Bears were down 27-26.
Northern was able to take a 29-27 lead on a trey by sophomore Kyle Gehle with 1:45 left in the half, but John Carroll’s Demetrius Travis converted a layup with 59 seconds and the score remained a 29-29 tie as the teams went into the locker room.
Lieb nailed a three-pointer just 1:33 into the second half that gave ONU a 34-31 advantage and the lead for good.
The Bears extended their lead to 53-42 with 8:24 to play on a 9-1 run during a span of 3:40. Badenhop scored five points during the run.
JCU was able to cut the lead to 58-53 at 4:30 mark in the second half as Ragor scored five consecutive points, but Northern quickly answered with a 8-2 run to put ONU up 66-55 with 51 seconds left.
The Bears defense forced the Blue Streaks to commit 31 turnovers.
“Our defense kept us in the game the entire time,” said Ohio Northern coach Jeff Coleman. “We knew coming into this contest wasn’t going to be easy. John Carroll deserves credit for playing with enthusiasm, but we played with more intensity in the second half.”
The Blue Streaks connected on 21-of-41 shots for 51.2 percent, while ONU hit 25-of-61 field goals for 41.0 percent.
JCU grabbed 31 rebounds compared to ONU’s 30.
Travis was the leading scorer for JCU with 18 points, while Derek Smith added 10 points.