For the first time all season, the shots from the outside did not fall for the John Carroll men's basketball team.

So the Blue Streaks went inside to grind out an 87-83 victory over LaRoche College Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The 5-0 start is John Carroll's first since the 2009-10 campaign and the 11th in the history of the program.

John Carroll went 3-21 from beyond the arc for the game, and hit two of those long range shots in the opening five minutes as the Blue Streaks built an 18-9 lead.

But the winless Redhawks suddenly found their range. Over the next seven minutes, LaRoche would hit five three-pointers -- two by Torin Smith -- and took a 35-32 lead.

The Blue Streaks still trailed 39-37 late in the half, but back-to-back baskets by Brian Papich and Ryan Farragher would give John Carroll a 41-39 advantage heading into the locker room.

JCU regained the lead for good on an Antonio Vuyancih jumper with 18:11 showing on the second half clock that put the Blue Streaks on top 45-44. The visitors then pressed the lead up to double digits when Farragher made John Carroll's final three ball at the 12:40 mark to establish a 61-51 lead.

The Blue Streaks led by as many as 13 and still held a 79-67 advantage with 3:38 to play before things got a little dicey down the stretch. A three-pointer by Evan Bonnaure with 1:34 to play pulled the Redhawks to within five points at 81-76. But a Doug Caputo lay-up and 4-4 free throw shooting by Will Starks in the final 64 seconds was enough to keep LaRoche at arm's length.

John Carroll (5-0) was led by Caputo, who had a double double with 21 points and ten rebounds. Vuyancih had 16 points off the bench while Farragher and Starks each contributed 11 points. The Blue Streaks were 32-48 (.667) inside the arc to offset the 3-21 (.143) effort from outside.

LaRoche (0-5) was paced by a game-high 24 points from Bonnaure, who was 8-16 from the field, including 6-10 from three-point range. 

The five previous times John Carroll has started 5-0 under head coach Mike Moran have all resulted in 20-win seasons and NCAA Division III playoff appearances -- 1996-97 (20-7/NCAA 1st Round), 1997-98 (22-7/NCAA Elite 8), 2003-04 (27-6/NCAA 3rd place), 2004-05 (24-6/NCAA Round of 16), 2009-2010 (21-7/NCAA Round of 32)