Box Score Home games have been few and far between for the John Carroll University men's basketball team.
 
It took a late push over the final 12 minutes for John Carroll to top Muskingum 94-72 on Saturday afternoon inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. It marked the first home game for the Blue and Gold since December 13.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as the Blue Streaks and Fighting Muskies were dead-locked at 43 at the intermission. The second platoon provided a spark during the opening period as it contributed 28 points. The two teams changed leads 10 times and had five ties over the first 20 minutes.
 
John Carroll pulled ahead for good on a 3-pointer from junior Will Starks with 16:45 remaining. The trifecta put John Carroll up 52-49.
 
Muskingum cut John Carroll's lead to two with 12:42 remaining. The Blue Streaks responded with a 7-0 run to open up a nine-point advantage led by five points from freshman Tony Vuyancih.
 
John Carroll's hot shooting took over from there.
 
A 3-pointer from freshman John Cirillo capped a 9-0 run to put John Carroll ahead 75-60 with 8:32 remaining in the game. Starks pushed the lead to 16 with his third 3-pointer of the game.
 
Jake Hollinger led the way for John Carroll with 16 points and four rebounds. Starks (13) and Vuyancih (12) combined for 25 points off the bench as part of the second platoon for the Blue Streaks.
 
The depth of the Blue and Gold was on full-display as the Fighting Muskies were outscored 53-5 in bench points. In all, 12 players found the scoresheet.
 
JCU improves to 9-3, 5-1 OAC while Muskingum fell to 4-9, 1-5 OAC.
 
John Carroll will look to add to its five-game home win streak when it hosts Otterbein on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.