Box Score

It was not an opportune time for a long winning streak over a heated rival to come to an end. Not that there is ever a good time.

But starting out the second half of the Ohio Athletic Conference schedule with first place on the line would rank right near the bottom.

For the first time since 2008, John Carroll was defeated by the host Capital Crusaders by an 85-68 count Saturday in Bexley, Ohio, snapping John Carroll's eight game winning streak against the Crusaders.

With the win, Capital extends itscurrent winning streak to six, which currently serves as the largest active winning streak in the conference. The victory also improved the Crusader's record to 11-6 overall and 8-2 in the OAC.

Capital's junior forward Ben Jackson had a double-double performance off the bench with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds in the winning cause. 

John Carroll (12-4, 7-3 OAC) falls into second place in the OAC as they stand one-game behind the Crusaders for the top spot in the conference with eight games to play in the regular season.

Today's outcome also marked only the sixth time in the last four years that the Blue Streaks have been held to under 70 points.   

The Crusaders jumped on the Blue Streaks early right out of the gate as they reeled off a 17-4 run, taking advantage of the Blue Streaks going 1-9 from the floor in the first six minutes. 

John Carroll would however overcome the poor start and battle their way back by outscoring the Crusaders 29-20 in the remaining 14 minutes of the half to cut the Capital advantage to four going into halftime, 37-33.     

It would then be déjà-vu all over again as once again Capital would get off to a fast start to begin a half.  The Crusaders began the first 4:47 of the second half on a 15-1 run, fueled by Michael Sommer's 13 points during that stretch.  At this point the Crusaders held a game-high 18 point lead, 52-34, with 15:13 remaining. 

The Blue Streaks would eventually cut it to eight points with 9:05 remaining following a 14-4 surge of their own, but was not quite enough to overcome the early half runs Capital pieced together. 

Seniors Corey Shontz and Mark Hester each contributed 16 points for the Blue Streaks.  Hester also had 11 rebounds in the contest, giving him his third consecutive double-double.

In his 100th career game as a Blue Streak, senior guard Michael Hartnett finished the contest with 11 points.  In his prior appearance at the Capital Center in December 2010, Hartnett set the John Carroll record by knocking down nine three-pointers en route to a 93-87 Blue Streaks victory.   

Capital's junior wing player Michael Sommer finished with 15 points, 13 of them coming in the first five minutes of the second half.  Junior forward Spencer Niekamp finished with 10 points, along with the aforementioned double-double performance from Jackson.