Box Score Free from the stress of finals week, John Carroll looked to rebound from its loss a week earlier against Ohio Northern.

The emphasis was placed on rebound.

The Blue Streaks took out their frustrations on Otterbein Saturday, defeating the Cardinals 80-69 at the DeCarlo Varsity Center. The two teams were tied for second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference going into the game.

John Carroll won despite shooting 31 percent from the field to Otterbein's 58 percent, but the Blue Streaks took 28 more shots than the Cardinals. John Carroll had the opportunity for more chances, in part, because it was able to extend its own possessions (25 offensive rebounds) while limiting Otterbein's (23 turnovers).

Box Score

John Carroll (6-2, 3-1 OAC), was paced by senior Mark Hester, who shared the team-high with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Fellow seniors Corey Shontz and Conor Sweeney also contributed 13 points each, with Shontz adding six assists.

Otterbein (3-5, 2-2 OAC) was led by senior Brice Rausch, who scored 17 points before fouling out late in the game. Davis finished the game with 13 points of his own and 9 rebounds. The Cardinals shot 58.1 percent from the field, but were unable to find consistent offense due to turnovers.

The first half of play was sloppy as both teams combined for 31 personal fouls for both teams. Despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field, John Carroll held a 14 point advantage going into halftime. The Blue Streaks keyed in on Otterbein leading scorers Chris Davis and RaNeal Ewing, holding them to just 2 total points in the first half.

Otterbein came out in the second half ready to pick up the pace, using an 8-0 run to cut the lead to just six with 18:08 remaining. During a timeout, JCU coach Mike Moran chose to go to the second team to try and steal momentum back.

Moran's plan worked like a charm, as the hustle and physicality of his second “platoon” led to a 6-0 run out of that timeout.

“Every time we check in the game, we try to be a spark plug,” said sophomore Ryan Angers. “We try to maximize the first team and keep up the tempo.”

The squad wasn't done yet, as a 13-0 run minutes later was capped by two 3-pointers from sophomore Jeff Chahine. Chahine found redemption after going 0-3 from behind the arc in the previous game.

“It feels good,” Chahine said. “I try to do anything I possibly can for this team. That's what I'm here for.”