Box Score

John Carroll led by 14 points in the first half, trailed by 14 points in the second half, then staged a comeback to escape Westerville with an 86-81 win over Otterbein to open Ohio Athletic Conference play Saturday night.

John Carroll burst out of the gate by scoring the first 11 points of the contest -- all by Brian Dandrea and Maurice Haynes -- only to have the Cardinals track them down by the end of the half. JCU led 31-17 with 7:57 to play in the first period, but Otterbein scored 26 of the final 40 points of the half to cut John Carroll's lead to 44-43 at the intermission.

Tearing a page from john Carroll's book, Otterbein rattled off  an 18-3 run to start the second half and threatened to blow the Blue Streaks out of the Rike Center. Brian Pollock's three-pointer at the 13:43 mark gave the Cardinals a 61-47 advantage.

JCU played the hunter down the stretch, and reeled in the Cardinals. Rudy Kirbus tied the game at 73-73 on a lay-up with 4:17 to play, and after Alan Kavanaugh put Otterbein ahead by two points on a lay-up of his own, Dandrea put John Carroll ahead for the first time since early in the half when he buried a three-point field goal with 3:55 left on the clock for a 76-75 Blue Streak lead.

The Blue Streaks never relinquished the lead again, getting key baskets and free throws down the stretch from Kirbus, Haynes and Dandrea, who accounted for the team's final ten points of the contest.

John Carroll (3-2, 1-0 OAC) was paced by a game-high 26 points from Kirbus, who was 8-13 from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line. Dandrea added 17 and Haynes 15 for the Blue Streaks, who were 21-27 (.778) from the free throw line, including 8-10 in the second half.

Otterbein (1-4, 0-1 OAC) was paced by 20 points from Pollock.