Box Score Determined to end a recent spate of losses, the Blue Streaks used a sizzling shooting performance to secure a narrow 78-73 victory in Westerville, Ohio over host Otterbein University.

The Blue and Gold came roaring out of the gate, maintaining a ten-point lead going into halftime. Otterbein did make a serious comeback attempt late in the second half, but JCU, led by senior Kyle Hubbard, sealed up a critical Ohio Athletic Conference win in the team's second-last game of the regular season.

JCU was nearly unstoppable on offense, especially in the first half. Led by Hubbard's career-high 31 points, the Blue Streaks shot at a 54.3% clip on the night. Hubbard himself shot 10 of 16 from the field. Freshman guard Danny Wallack, with 12 points and six rebounds, and sophomore guard David Hendrickson (10 points) also had solid offensive nights for the Blue and Gold. Jake Bischoff led the Cardinals with 20, while Max Van Meter (17) and Tommy Waterwash (13) followed close behind.

The Blue and Gold streaked out to a 12-2 lead within two minutes of the opening tip. Three pointers from Wallack and Hendrickson keyed the team's early lead. Though the Cardinals narrowed the lead to two, courtesy of an 8-0 run, JCU's offense could not be contained for long. The Blue Streaks soon answered with a 16-4 run over a seven minute span to give the visitors a 28-14 lead with 7:40 to play in the first. At that point of the game, JCU was shooting a red-hot 60% from the field.

The Blue and Gold continued to produce points on offense for the rest of the half, though Otterbein's offense began to come alive as well. The half ended with a 40-30 score in favor of John Carroll.

The Cardinals would not go down easy, however. Otterbein outscored the Blue and Gold 13-7 in the first five minutes of the second half, bringing the score to 47-43. JCU head coach Mike Moran called a 30 second timeout in an attempt to calm the troops. Moran's strategy succeeded, as the Blue Streaks upped the lead to ten with 12 minutes left to play. They sustained a significant lead for much of the next eight minutes, until Otterbein's offense mustered one final stand with 4:24 left in the contest.

Over the course of the next three minutes, the Cardinals went on a 10-2 tear to trail by just two at 72-70. Otterbein forward Mark Van Meter was responsible for eight of those points. After a Van Meter foul with 42 ticks left on the clock, Hubbard sunk one of two tosses from the charity stripe. Van Meter answered by hitting a jump shot to make the score 73-72 with 24 seconds left. But two seconds later, Ryan Angers calmly toed the free throw line and the junior guard nailed both attempts to help ice the game. 

John Carroll will close out the 2012-13 regular season at home on Saturday against Marietta College, before hosting an OAC Tournament opening round game on Monday, February 18 at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.