Box Score Knowing it needed to capitalize on its two major offensive weaknesses this week to extend its stay in the OAC Tournament the John Carroll University men's basketball did just that.

The free throw. John Carroll went 8-for-9 at the line in the final 2:39. John Carroll entered the week last in the OAC in free throw percentage.

The 3-pointer. John Carroll finished 10-for-24. The Blue Streaks also are 10th in the OAC in 3-point field goal percentage.

"Coach (Mike) Moran does all the coaching of the 3-point shooters and the free throw shooters," said assistant coach Frank O'Brien. "Give him 100 percent of the credit."

Having to slow down a potent Purple Raider shooting assault the Blue Streaks held Mount Union to 27 percent from behind the arc. Mount Union entered the game shooting 42 percent from behind the arc.

Known for his defense Jordan Murphy came down with the biggest rebound of his life with 23 seconds remaining. Despite splitting the free throws at the other end of the floor, it put all of the pressure on Mount Union's Jarrett Ruffin.

Said Murphy, "I had a hand free to go after it (the ball) and they fouled me right afterward."

Fouled with two seconds remaining Ruffin missed the first free throw. He had to miss the second in order to give the Purple Raiders one last offensive chance. Ruffin missed.

Backed by an all-out team effort the Blue Streaks hung on to take the 83-81 win over the top-seeded Purple Raiders in Alliance on Thursday evening.

Said O'Brien, "We always tell the kids we're a very young team this year and we've known that all along. They have to grow up. They're experienced now and they handle the composure tremendously. The whole coaching staff is very, very proud of them."

John Carroll advances to its first OAC Championship since 2011. The Blue Streaks will travel to Wilmington for the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday..

"We're excited," said O'Brien. "It's a great opportunity for the kids. They worked really, really hard and deserve this opportunity."

After going 15-for-15 at the free throw line down the stretch at Ohio Northern at Tuesday, the free throw shooters took over as Joey Vuyancih and David Linane both made a pair of free throws to make it 79-76 John Carroll with 1:52 remaining.

John Carroll's magical run was just getting rolling.

Vuyancih put a layup in and finished the free throw on the and-one play with 1:16 remaining.

However, the lead almost slipped away. John Carroll coughed the ball up twice in the final minute on inbound plays. The Blue Streaks let several late leads slip away throughout the season. Not tonight.

Squaring off against the OAC's top 3-point shooting team it was the Blue Streaks who came out of the gate on fire from downtown. David Hendrickson's two 3-pointers and Danny Wallack's one had John Carroll out to a 15-8 lead just over four minutes into the game.

Mount Union's Jeff Froman quickly responded with back-to-back layups to make it a 3-point game but Tim Ludlow responded right back with three points of his own to push the lead back to six with 13:08 remaining in the first half.

The lead would be short lived however as TJ Gillespie buried a 3-pointer to wake up the Purple Raiders. On their next possession Mount Union's Jimmy Darnel sent the lead back in the Purple Raiders' favor at 23-22.

The back-and-forth affair would change again with 8:13 in the half. Looking to draw a foul Hendrickson bumped into a Purple Raider defender. Unsuccessful at drawing the foul the junior was left with no option by to hoist off the off-balance trifecta which in putting the Blue and Gold on top 28-25. Jordan Murphy would sink two free throws to put JCU up five.

UMU stormed right back with a 6-2 run of its own to take the 31-30 lead. John Carroll answered right back when Simon Kucharewicz slammed home the dunk in transition.

The two teams continued to go at each other for the rest of the half as Linane heated up with 10 points in the final 3:30 of the stanza to keep the Blue Streaks in the game. The two teams ended the first half deadlocked at 46. The first half saw 11 lead changes and nine ties.

The Blue and Gold came out on fire to start the second half. Vuyancih kept the energy high starting the half with a 3-pointer to keep JCU out on top. Two possessions later Hendrickson continue his hot streak with his fourth 3-pointer of the contest.

The lead would be short lived. With Jake Hollinger, Simon Kucharewicz and Tim Ludlow all battling foul trouble the Purple Raiders' took advantage and came storming right back.

Jarrett Ruffin's free throw with gave the lead to Mount Union at 55-54 with 15:58 remaining in the game. The Purple Raiders opened up a 6-point with just over 11 minutes remaining.

John Carroll slowly but surely crawled right back led by its defense. Linane came up with a steal and finished the layup on the other end of the court with 6:12 remaining to cut JCU's deficit to two. On the next possession Hollinger came up with the steal and Hendrickson cleaned up on the other end of the floor to tie the game at 69 with 5:36 remaining.

Linane led the Blue Streaks with 19 points. Also finishing in double figures were Hendrickson (16), Vuyancih (15) and Hollinger (10).

The game featured 17 lead changes and 15 ties.