On the penultimate night of 2009, the team looking for respect beat the team looking for validation as Medaille College survived a wild final minute to pull off a 92-91 upset over John Carroll University.

Box Score

Medaille came into Wednesday night's contest at the Decarlo Varsity Center owning a 10-0 record built largely on a list of lesser teams that had a combined record of 30-61. But following a win on the home court of the #9 ranked team in Division III may earn the Mavericks their long sought after respect on the national scene.

John Carroll, meanwhile, was hoping to validate its position among the top ten teams in the nation after a mild stumble in the early part of December.

Despite a lengthy 18-day lay-off from competitive basketball, the visiting Mavericks showed little rust as they built a 22-13 lead after nine minutes of play. The host Blue Streaks would spend the rest of the opening half chasing down Medaille and pulled to within two points (43-41) at the intermission. 

John Carroll still trailed early on in the second half, but used a 7-0 run to take their first lead. Tommy Lavelle's lay-up off a Patrick Sweeney steal put JCU ahead 56-55 with 16:07 left in the second half. 

After John Carroll built its lead to 59-55, Medaille answered with an 18-5 run over the next seven minutes. Ron Malicki's two free throws with 8:40 to play pushed the Mavericks' lead to 73-64, with the nine-point advantage the largest enjoyed by either team on the night. 

It took less than three full minutes for John Carroll to rally back, and the Blue Streaks briefly jutted ahead when Rudy Kirbus buried two free throws with 5:25 showing on the clock to put his team up 80-79. 

Medaille responded with a 10-4 run over the next four minutes, with Malicki supplying six of those key points. His free throws gave the Mavericks an 89-84 lead at the 1:32 mark. 

The host squad had one last charge left in them. JCU scored six straight points to take a 90-89 lead with 23 seconds to play on Matt Crozier's three-point play. 

Malicki responded yet again, catching a long pass and making a lay-up and converting a free throw that proved to be the winning points with 19 seconds to play. 

Down 92-90, John Carroll had a chance to tie the game but Kirbus missed the second of two free throws. Still, JCU had one last gasp when Medaille's Ricky Reed missed both free throws with seven seconds left, but an errant pass by Tyler Kirsch sailed past two Blue Streaks and the hosts helplessly watched the ball roll down court as time expired. 

Medaille (11-0) was led by Malicki's 21 points, accrued on 7-11 shooting from the floor and 7-9 from the line. He also led the Mavericks with seven boards. 

Reed (13), Keith Hack (13) and Mike Berkun (12) also scored in double figures for Medaille, which shot exceptionally well from the field (30-48, .625) and three-point arc (7-13, .538). 

John Carroll (7-3), which suffered its first regular season home loss since February 13, 2008, was led by 24 points from Kirbus and 22 from Crozier. The two players were a combined 12-19 from the field and 19-26 from the free throw line.