Terry Walsh (left) and Rudy Kirbus (right) were often in the middle of the fray during JCU's 76-62 win over Muskingum
box score
It was exactly one week ago that the John Carroll men's basketball team defeated Muskingum College in the first half of the Ohio Athletic Conference schedule.
On Wednesday night at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, John Carroll would offer up an encore. Seven days after its first win, JCU fought off a 1-10 start from the field to complete the season sweep of Muskingum with a convincing 76-62 victory.
The two familiar foes faced each other in a match-up that had a great deal of playoff implications. Both team's entered Wednesday's contest in a three way tie for third place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (along with Ohio Northern), each with a 6-4 conference record.
The visiting Muskies showed no signs of bus lag as they jumped to an early lead on the Blue Streaks. After surrendering the game's first basket, Muskingum scored 12 straight points before surrendering JCU's second basket of the game at the 13:04 mark of the first half.
After the six minute scoreless drought, JCU found its stride offensively as it used a 13-point run of its own to take the lead for good with 7:06 to play in the half. The slow start kept JCU from distancing themselves but the Blue Streaks managed to carry a 35-31 lead into halftime.
JCU started the second half like it finished the first on a lay-up by Rudy Kirbus that made the score 47-37. Muskingum twicce knocked down the lead below double digits, but for John Carroll, the third time was the charm. A Maurice Haynes II jumper with 12:55 put the Blue Streaks ahead, 51-41, and the deficit would stay 10 points or more the rest of the way.
On a tough night for the starters -- the five combined for just 11 first half points -- John Carroll (10-7, 7-4 OAC) got great production from its bench. Kirbus led the team with 17 points, while Haynes and Desmond Motley both chipped in ten. Terry Walsh, who also had a team-high nine rebounds, was the lone starter in double figures with 12 points.
In winning for the fifth time in its last six games, John Carroll rebounded from that 1-10 shooting start to finish the game 29-56 (.518) from the field. Over the last 33:04 of the contest, the Blue Streaks were 28-46 (.609) from the floor.
The victory keeps JCU in a tie for third place along with Ohio Northern, who beat beat Heidelberg tonight.
Muskingum (11-6, 6-5 OAC) was paced by a game-high 20 points from Brandon Todd, who scored 16 of those in the second half. Jeremy Ady added ten points while Ben Miller tallied eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
