John Curran scored eight of his career-high 18 points in the overtime period, but JCU dropped an 82-81 decision to Albion
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Despite a career-high 18 points from senior John Curran, the weary John Carroll University men's basketball team could not hold a nine-point second half lead and ultimately fell to Albion College, 82-81, in overtime Sunday afternoon in University Heights, Ohio.
Albion junior Drew Yancey scored the game-winning basket with seven seconds left. John Carroll had two attempts to answer, but a Rudy Kirbus three-pointer was wide, and Terry Walsh was stripped of the ball after grabbing the offensive board one second before time expired.
John Carroll was playing its second game in as many days, coming off the heels of a hard fought 67-57 loss to Division I Cleveland State. The Blue Streaks seemed to have plenty in the tank early on, as Albion and JCU maintained a fast tempo throughout the first half.
Mired in a back-and-forth affair during the first 20 minutes, the Blue Streaks would not hold a solid lead until forty-nine seconds remained. Kirbus would make two free throws, a lay-up and another free throw to put JCU up by five. Albion sophomore Andrew Bridges would hit a three-pointer, but Walsh would respond with his own to send JCU into intermission with a 41-36 advantage.
The Blue Streaks would waste no time in the second half, as Curran made a three-pointer at the 15:08 mark to give JCU a nine-point lead (49-40), the biggest either team had held in the game.
However, Albion would chip away at the lead as the tempo and scoring began to slow. A Jim Cash free throw with 3:03 remaining tied the game for the first time in the second half at 67-67.
JCU went ahead by four with 90 seconds left on a Walsh jumper, but Yancey made a lay-up with 1:09 to play, and then Cash saved the day for the Britons when he rebounded a missed shot and dropped in a lay-up to tie the contest at 71-71 just as the buzzer sounded to end regulation.
Curran, who scored eight of his 18 points in the overtime period, tied the game at 80-80 with 2:00 showing on the clock in the extra period. After Albion missed, JCU senior Tony DeMichele made one of his two free throw attempts to break a tie and make the score 81-80 in favor of the Blue Streaks.
The Britons again missed a shot on their next possession, but a steal by Albion's Bill Lesing with 35 seconds left set up Yancey's game-winning shot.
Albion (3-1) was paced by five players in double figures, led by Cash with 18 and Yancey with 16. The Britons, who had not played since Wednesday, shot 32-59 (.542) from the field for the game and were 9-21 (.429) from three-point range.
In addition to Curran, John Carroll (2-2) received 18 points from Walsh, of which 14 were scored in the first half. Derek Smith was a perfect 6-6 from the field and scored a season-high 15 points. JCU was hot early, making 14-25 (.560) from the field in the first half, but managed just 14-35 (.400) the rest of the way.
Curran broke his previous career-high of 16 points, set against Wilmington during the Ohio Athletic Conference quarterfinals last season.
