For all the success enjoyed by the Blue Streaks men's basketball team in its nearly 100 years on the hardwood, the 2015-16 team has now done something only two other John Carroll teams have accomplished.
Today's 84-68 win at Wilmington's is JCU's eighth consecutive victory to start the season, matching the 1922-23 team and trailing only the 2004-05 squad (13-0) for the best start in the first century of men's basketball at the school.
In improving to 3-0 in conference play to stay atop the league standings with Mount Union (4-0) and Marietta (3-0), the Blue Streaks dominated on the boards, out rebounding the Quakers 47-39, allowing for many second chance buckets of which the Blue Streaks capitalized on.
Simon Kucharewicz was a major factor in the rebounding category, gathering in seven boards in the contest.
Also, the depth of the JCU squad was on display this afternoon, as the second unit put up 44 points, complimenting the starters output of 40 points.
At the start of the game, buckets were being traded off between teams, neither side asserting control early on. However, JCU was forcing turnovers, totaling 11 in the first half, while also denying the Quakers with four blocks. Around six minutes into the game, the Blue Streaks caught fire following back-to-back threes from
Will Starks and
David Linane, who led JCU in scoring in this contest with 15 points.
JCUÂ eventually pushed the lead out to 30-10 midway through the first, and was up 47-23 late in the opening period before Wilmington started to close the gap thanks to an 8-0 run at the end of the half. Still, the Blue Streaks went into the locker room at half with a comfortable 47-31 lead. JCU shot 17-30 (.57 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Ryan Farragher was a crucial contributor in the first, leading the team in both points and assists coming off the bench
The Quakers continued their late first half momentum with an 14-4 run in the first six minutes of play, pulling to within six points at 51-45. That was, however, as close as John Carroll would allow Wilmington to get the rest of the game.
John Cirillo, who was a key factor on both ends of the court in the second half, rebounded his own miss and put it back up in with a little more than 12 minutes to go. Shortly afterwards, Vuyancih put in a layup that got the Blue Streaks going again, setting up a 13-7 run by JCU.
It was still a seven-point game at 74-67 with just over minutes to play when the Blue Streaks surged one more time, and Wilmington could not answer. Consecutive baskets by Cirillo, Linane (a three) and
Doug Caputo gave John Carroll the cushion it needed.
Five Blue Streaks scored in double figures, led by Linane's 15. Caputo contributed a double double (11 points, team-high ten rebounds), while Farragher (12),
Antonio Vuyancih (11) and Cirillo (10) also had strong outings.
Christian Jones led Wilmington (1-6, 0-3 OAC) with 15 points to match Linane for game-high honors.
