What started out as a yawner turned into a squeaker for John Carroll in the first round of the conference tournament tonight.

John Carroll held off a late run from Mount Union to win the game, 75-68, and advance to the Ohio Athletic Conference semifinals against Capital. 

Box Score

Capital destroyed Otterbein, 76-47, in another quarterfinal to set up a match-up at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Even though JCU led by as many as 15 points in the first half against Mount Union, Blue Streaks coach Mike Moran saw a balanced game.

“It's like two twin brothers fighting each other, it was even at every phase,” JCU head coach Mike Moran said. 




John Carroll led 36-29 at the start of the second half, but Mount Union slowly began to chip away at the lead.

Forward Jimmy Wood tallied 15 points and guard Ben Hodkinson earned nine points.

“They had a few kids who heated up in the second half,” Moran said.

Wood's lay-up with about 7:30 to go in the half, brought the Purple Raiders within two. A minute later they tied the game with two free throws from Matt Weir.

From there, the game went back and forth: John Carroll pulled ahead and Mount Union tied it up.

“When it came down to the end their shots were getting faint and we still had our full legs.” Shontz said.

The Blue Streaks finally got a cushion they could hold on to with 47 seconds remaining when Mike Hartnett sank a 3-pointer to put JCU up 72-67.

“We were holding the ball and trying to run the clock down,” Hartnett said. “We set up our shooters on the outside. My blocker stepped back and I was able to get the open shot”

JCU senior Maurice Haynes finished the game as the top scorer with 18 points. Corey Shontz and Joey Meyer finished behind him, with 17 and 11 respectively.

John Carroll only shot 31 percent in 3-pointers tonight -- much lower than its season average of 42 percent.

The Blue Streaks need to do better in Thursday's game against Capital.

“Capital has been similar to us this season,” Moran said. “They lost to Otterbein a few weeks ago and then they win big tonight … We have to pray some of our perimeter shooters heat up against Capital.”

John Carroll defeated Capital both times the teams met this season. The first game at Capital, the Blue Streaks won 93-87 and in their second meeting, John Carroll earned an 82-77 home victory.

“It's hard to be a team three times, but luckily we are playing at home,” Hartnett said. “We have to feed off the crowd's energy. We have to start off strong early because I know some of our guys will be nervous since we are playing in the semifinals.”