It is one thing to make a school-record nine three-point field goals. It is yet another to do so in just 11 attempts.

Yet for Blue Streak junior Michael Hartnett, what mattered most  Saturday afternoon at the Capital Center was his record-setting effort and career-high 27 points helped John Carroll post a 93-87 win over the host Capital University Crusaders in an important early season Ohio Athletic Conference showdown.

Box Score

"This is a huge win for us," said Hartnett, who scored 27 points on a school-record nine three-point field goals (on 11 attempts). "This is definitely a stepping stone win for us after taking a step backwards with a loss to Olivet. In our first conference game, we knew it would be tough to come play here - this might be one of our toughest conference games all year. Capital is one of the best teams in the conference and to get a win on the road early in the year for us was huge."

John Carroll overcame a six-point halftime deficit to win its league opener.

The Blue Streaks started strong, leading by as many as seven points in the opening period. When DeAndre Richardson canned a pair of free throws with 6:17 showing on the clock, the visitors were up 30-23.

Capital would turn the game completely around over the final six minutes of the half. Keyed by eight points apiece from Scott Robertson and Michael Sommer, the Crusaders used a 25-12 closing burst to take a 43-37 lead into the locker room.

John Carroll never let the game get away, and would retake the lead within the first seven minutes of the second half. When Hartnett made the fifth of his nine treys, John Carroll went up 58-56 with 13:31 remaining.

"We haven't won here in a long time," said assistant coach Frank O'Brien, whose Blue Streaks won in Bexley for the first time since January 4, 2006. "In the second half, we felt that their inside game was really damaged with their big guy Scott Robertson in foul trouble. He's a great player ... We knew we would need to get some more help in the post, so Coach (Mike) Moran made a few adjustments and they worked well. We told our guys that we could live with aggressive fouls, but ticky-tack fouls needed to stop. It was definitely a team effort, and of course down the stretch we really shot the ball well."

The game would see four lead changes and four ties over the next eight minutes before John Carroll would take over for good. After Capital took a 77-75 lead on a D.J. Frazier with 5:35 showing on the second-half clock, John Carroll would rattle off nine consecutive points that included Hartnett's record-breaking three-pointer at the 4;32 mark.

Capital whittled JCU's lead down to 84-82 on an Anthony Bell lay-up with 1:37 left, but the Streaks were clutch down the stretch at the free throw line, going 7-8 at the stripe over the final 32 seconds.

John Carroll (5-1, 1-0 OAC), ranked #16 in the nation, had four players in double figures. in addition to Hartnett's 27, Joe Meyer had 19, Kyle Hubbard added 13 and Maurice Haynes II dropped in 11. As a team, JCU shot 26-52 (.500) from the field, including 14-24 (.583) from beyond the arc.

"I think its contageous when we shoot well," said Meyer, who was 3-6 from three-point range. "Its a huge momentum swing when one of us hits a couple three's in a row and then we can get into our press and start causing turnovers. Thankfully we hit some shots tonight."

Capital (4-2, 0-1 OAC) was paced by a 25 points from Frazier