Box Score Faced with its second conference road game being postponed by 24 hours this season, the John Carroll University men's basketball team looked to turn up the intensity on defense, push the ball in transition and make Heidelberg play a fast-paced game.

Mission accomplished.

After needing overtime to determine the last two meetings in the series, the Blue Streaks had the Student Princes uncomfortable all night long with relentless pressure and a high-paced offense. John Carroll went on to take the 76-70 decision to improve 13-7, 7-6 OAC. Heidelberg falls to 5-14, 1-11 OAC.

Squaring off against one of the top ball handling teams in the OAC, the Blue Streak defense proved to be no match for the Student Princes in the early going. Heidelberg, who entered the game with just 11.3 turnovers per game, finished the first half nearly at its season average with 11.

"The guys really got after it tonight," said assistant coach Frank O'Brien. "We've been stressing that in practice. I'm really proud of the effort the guys gave tonight."

A 3-pointer by Jackson Blue tied the game at 47 but Nicholas Ruckel continued to play hard and put John Carroll right back in front, a lead the Blue and Gold would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

The Blue Streaks continued to build momentum late in the second half with two key plays. Jordan Murphy finished a layup as he was falling down to the ground while a dunk by Jake Hollinger as he was fouled staked JCU to a 10-point lead with 7:46 remaining in the game.

Down five just over six minutes into the game, the Blue and Gold turned up the pressure in transition and sprinted off on an 11-0 run. David Hendrickson (one) and Danny Wallack (two) gave JCU 3-pointers on three straight possessions before Tim Ludlow capped the run with four straight points to put the Blue Streaks up eight with 11:23 left in the opening stanza.

Evidenced by the tightness of the previous two meetings, the Student Princes would not go quietly. Heidelberg cut John Carroll's lead to two just before halftime on Frank Longhino's 3-pointer.

John Carroll's shooters were lights out when they needed to be as Wallack and Hendrickson combined for seven trifectas.

"They're both tremendous shooters," said O'Brien. "It was nice to see a good reward for all of their hard work."

Wallack led the offense with 16 points. Hendrickson (14), Hollinger (13) and Kucharewicz (10) joined Wallack in double figures.

The men's basketball team returns home to take on Capital at 2 p.m. on Saturday.