Jake Hollinger earned his fifth double-double of the season against Marietta, and his third in the month of February
Box Score With the opportunity to control its own destiny heading into the OAC Tournament the John Carroll University men's basketball team need a win to lock up the No. 5 seed.
The Blue Streaks started the game strong before the Pioneers came storming back to take the 94-87 win inside Ban Johnson Arena on Saturday afternoon in Marietta.
John Carroll jumped out to an early lead as
Tim Ludlow knocked down two shots in the game's first five minutes as the Blue Streaks rolled out to a 13-2 run out of the gate.
Marietta quickly responded cutting the lead to six with 12:58 in the half on Keith Richardson's layup but a 3-pointer by
Danny Wallack and layups by
Joey Vuyancih and
Jake Hollinger quickly put JCU back ahead by double-digits at 27-17.
The Pioneers would not go quietly as Marietta fought back within striking distance by the eight minute mark and kept its deficit at single digits for the remainder of the half. John Carroll did take a 8-point lead into the locker room off of Vuyancih's layup with four seconds remaining in the half.
Looking to make an impact, Vuyancih continued his strong play in the second half burying a 3-pointers to push the Blue and Gold's lead back to eight with 18:49 remaining. However, less the one minute later Luis Garcia responded with a 3-pointer of his own to cut JCU's lead to one.
Vuyancih responded right back with an and-one to put JCU up by four but the Blue Streaks could not pull away as both teams kept the score close.
Marietta finally took the lead with 8:22 remaining in the game as the Pioneers took off on a 14-4 run to open up an 8-point lead with just over three minutes remaining.
David Linane led the offensive charge with 19 points on the afternoon while
Jake Hollinger added a double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points. Joining Hollinger and Linane in double figures were Ludlow (13) and Vuyancih (12).
John Carroll was able to still lock up the No. 5 seed for the OAC Tournament as Muskingum beat Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern beat Capital on Saturday. John Carroll will host Otterbein at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 24 with the winner advancing to play at Ohio Northern on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
