Box Score  
It was a loss that was about as tough to swallow as a third straight day of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Despite rallying from 12 points down in the second half to take the lead in the final 15 seconds, the John Carroll men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 85-84 loss when Michael Cherry's jumper with three ticks left enabled the host team to win its own tournament at the Christopher Newport University Point Plaza Invitational Sunday in Newport News, Virginia.

The Blue Streaks trailed 69-57 with 8:57 to play before chipping away at the Captains lead. A jumper by Danny Wallack cut the lead down to 78-76 with just over four minutes left to play, and baskets by Kyle Hubbard and Kenny Janz down the stretch trimmed the lead to a single point twice.

A Wallack steal with 35 seconds gave John Carroll the chance to take the lead, and Hubbard seized the opportunity when he got the ball down low and put up a lay-up with just 15 seconds showing on the clock, giving the Streaks an 84-83 advantage.

The Captains turned to Cherry, who got into open space and hit a short jumper for the final points.

JCU's desparation heave was off target as the buzzer sounded.

John Carroll hoped to test the stamina of Christopher Newport, which had played a four overtime game the night before. The Blue Streaks ran out to a 27-19 lead on a Wallack three-pointer just inside ten minutes to play in the first half, but the Captains were able to steady teh ship, and took a 44-42 lead into the break.

At the start of the second half, John Carroll briefly led 48-46, but a 17-5 run by the home team put the Captaisn ahead by double digits, 63-53, with just over nine minutes gone. 

Christopher Newport twice led by 12 points before the Blue Streaks surged at the end.

In winning the title, Christopher Newport (4-0) was led by by Cherry, who scored 26 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Nik Biberaj added 19 and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. The Captains were 29-59 (.492) from the field and made 20-23 (..870) from the free throw line.

John Carroll (2-2) which has lost its two games by a combined three points this season -- both to host teams in tournament championship games -- placed Hubbard and Wallack on the all-tournament team. Wallack led JCU with 18 points off the bench on 7-11 shooting from the floor (including 4-6 from three-point range). Hubbard added 13 points while David Hendrickson had 14. 

As a team, JCU shot 30-61 (.492) from the floor.