Box Score Making its second trip to Ada this season, the John Carroll University men's basketball team looked to get off to a stronger start than its last visit. However, more important than the start was the finish.

Lucas Pennington connected on a 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining in the game to pull Ohio Northern within eight at 75-67.

The Polar Bears kept chipping away trading free throws for 3-pointers with Lucas Pennington making it a 7-point game with 50.4 seconds remaining.

After seeing several late leads slip away throughout the season and most recently on Saturday at Marietta, Joey Vuyancih, Danny Wallack and David Hendrickson would have no part of another opposing comeback. Ranked 10th in the OAC entering the day in free throw percentage, JCU went a combined 15-for-15 at the charity stripe in the final three minutes to take the 92-81 decision.

"Coach (Mike) Moran's always told the kids we're great free throw shooters," said assistant coach Frank O'Brien. "Up until tonight they never believed him."

With drastically better weather conditions than in their last trip the Blue Streaks fared much better in Tuesday's start as 10 players found the scoring column in the first half.

Hollinger knocked down the Blue Streaks' first shot of the game as the Blue and Gold came out on fire. Two possessions later Ludlow cut to the basket to make it a 4-point advantage.

Said O'Brien, "Our guys were excited to come to Ohio Northern at this time of the year. Our guys came out ready to play and it made all of the difference in the world."

However, as the typical OAC contest goes momentum shifts and shifts often. The two teams quickly exchanged the lead three times before JCU was able to put some distance between itself and ONU.

Looking for a spark John Carroll spurted out on an 8-1 run just five minutes into the game to open up a 9-point lead less than seven minutes into the game. The Blue Streaks continued their high-flying aerial assault when David Hendrickson found Jake Hollinger for the dunk.

John Carroll continued to build its lead thanks to its strong defensive effort. Tim Ludlow swiped the ball from Ohio Northern's Lucas Pennington and continued onward on to make the layup at the other end of the floor to put the Blue Streaks up 13 with 6:41 remaining.

Branden Rushton would not let the Polar Bears go quietly. The senior put ONU on his back scoring 10 of the Polar Bear's next 12 points to cut JCU's lead to five at 32-27 with 3:31 remaining in the first half. Ohio Northern cut its deficit to two at 32-30 before John Carroll regrouped to close out the first half.

A pair of free throws Wallack and a layup by Jake Hollinger gave the Blue and Gold a 6-point halftime lead.

The late half momentum carried over to the second half as John Carroll built up a 13-point lead at 52-39 by the first media timeout of the half. Needing to get going offensively Vuyancih answered by scoring the first five JCU points of the second half.

Looking to build up energy Nicholas Ruckel chipped in with the answer making a reverse layup as he was fouled and falling down. From there, it was off to the races as Kucharewicz connected on two layups in transition.

Rushton had an answer once again for the Polar Bears scoring five straight points. John Carroll would maintain a double-digit lead until Penningtons's 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining.
 
Vuyancih led five Blue Streaks in double figures on the night with a game-tying high 19 points. David Linane directed the offense with eight assists.

Leading the OAC in turnovers per game, John Carroll carried its solid ball handling over from Monday night's first-round game as the Blue and Gold only coughed the ball up three times in the first half.

With the win John Carroll improves to 17-10 on the season while Ohio Northern ends its season at 16-10.

John Carroll advances to its first OAC Tournament Semifinal since 2012. The men's basketball team will travel to Mount Union for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Thursday, Feb. 27.