At the end of an emotionally charged week in in which the John Carroll Blue Streaks had to deal with the death of a teammate and friend, it turned out that the rescue they were seeking was found in the safe harbor of the basketball court.

Given two hours to become college basketball players again, John Carroll played perhaps its most complete game of the year in a 96-66 victory over Wilmington Saturday night at the Decarlo Varsity Center.

Box Score

On a day that began with a funeral mass in Philadelphia -- and on a night that began with a tribute to Matt that included a speech from his granfather George Kneier -- the assumption was there might be very little left in the emotional tank for the Blue Streaks.

But when the ball was tipped, the game became simply a game. Which was welcome news for the JCU side.

"I would have liked our chances against the Boston Celtics tonight," said a weary Mike Moran afterwards. "It's hard to check your emotions. regardless of situation when you 18 to 22 years old. A lot of credit goes to the kids ... they just wanted to play."

Moran had attended the Crozier family funeral in Philadelphia earlier the same day and hand arrived at the DeCarlo Center minutes before the start of the game.

A close first three minutes gave way to an avalance of John Carroll points, as the Blue Streaks turned an 8-6 lead into a 26-8 lead during a key seven-minute stretch.

It was a dominant effort from that point forward. JCU led by a 45-19 count at the break, and at one time led by 43 points.

John Carroll (9-4, 4-2 OAC) shot 36-59 (.610) from the field, and 12-23 (.522) from the field in opening the 2011 calendar year with a win.

Maurice Haynes II (Cleveland, OH, Villa Angela-St. Joseph)led four players in double figures with 16 points. 

Wilmington (5-9, 1-6 OAC), which had a modest two-game winning streak snapped, was paced by a game-high 24 points from Antonio Bowman.