box score

The John Carroll men's basketball team won a battle of survival this afternoon at the DeCarlo Varsity Center as it outlasted a winless Otterbein Cardinals squad by an 85-71 score in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

John Carroll used a key 27-11 run that started midway through the second half to subdue a strong effort by an Otterbein team that was without senior Ross Banaszak, who leads the Cardinals in ten categories including points per game, assists, and minutes per game. Banaszak did not make the trip due to a death in the family.

JCU led by just a single point, 53-52, after Derek Smith picked up a technical foul and Adam Wells drained the subsequent free throws at the 11:32 mark.

Over the next nine minutes, John Carroll would pull away from the Cardinals. Seven different players scored during a stretch in which the Blue Streaks would score 27 of the next 38 points. Rudy Kirbus had nine of those points including a three pointer with 5:52 remaining to make the score 71-60.

When John Curran sank a pair of free throws with 2:42 remaining, JCU had its largest lead of the day at 80-63.

Otterbein came to John Carroll looking for its first win of the season after dropping its first four games -- non by more than six points. The game began with both teams struggling to make shots, with the Cardinals failing to score until sophomore Rocco Fortuna hit a three pointer at the 1518 mark of the first half.

After the teams settled down, Terry Walsh would lead the charge for JCU. Walsh, who extended his streak of scoring in double digits to 31 games with a 14-point first half, helped the Blue Streaks end the first half with a 37-31 lead.

Walsh continued his dominance into the second half, as he scored the first six points of the second half to stake John Carroll a 43-31 lead at the 18:16 mark.

Although things looked rosy for John Carroll, nine fouls in the first 5:30 of the second half would hinder the Streaks' effort. Otterbein took advantage, especially Cory Ratai, who scored 11 of his team-high 19 points during a 21-10 Cardinals' run that cut John Carroll's lead to 53-52.

John Carroll (3-2, 1-0 OAC) was led by 28 points from Walsh, who was one shy of his career high. Kirbus added 17 (ten in the second half), while Curran and Smith chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively. JCU was 35-47 from the free throw line, which included 23 made free throws in the final 20 minutes.

In addition to Ratai's 19 points, Otterbein (0-5, 0-1 OAC) received 13 from Fortuna, 12 from Ryan Kennedy and 11 from Kyle Wells. Otterbein made 18-22 (.818) from the free throw line by just 10-33 (.303) from the field in the second half.

The two teams combined for 36 offensive rebounds and 56 personal fouls.