As the grind of the OAC season rolls on, the stakes have increased with each game for the John Carroll men's basketball team.

The Blue Streaks, despite facing pressure from Heidelberg in the second half, grinded out a 95-78 victory in Tiffin, Ohio. The Student Princes drop their third straight game, falling to 9-9 and 4-7 in the OAC. The fourth-ranked Blue Streaks improve to 18-0, and 11-0 in the OAC.

Through the first couple of minutes of play, both teams were battling for control of the game.  The Student Princes struck first, taking a small lead early on. The Blue Streaks quickly heated up, putting on a defensive clinic with their stifling pressure. Those turnovers led to 16 John Carroll points.The JCU bench was key, outscoring Heidelberg 21-8.

The Blue Streaks turned the energy up even more midway through the half, firing off an 11-6 run in four minutes.   The strong play by JCU helped them gain an early lead, going up 16-7 eight minutes in. After some more back and forth action, the Princes came alive and went on their own 11-6 run near the end of the half, coming as close as nine points.  However, the Blue Streaks stayed strong and closed out the half up by 10, 42-32. 

Led by David Linane, the Blue Streaks forced 14 total turnovers in the half, with five of them coming in the first six minutes of the game. Linane put in 10 points in the first half. The teams combined for 26 total fouls in the first half. Heidelberg reached the foul limit with 10 minutes to go in the half, and the extra trips to the charity stripe helped the Streaks maintain an early lead. Cirillo made eight trips to the line and drained six of his attempts. Antonio Vuyancih dropped in 11 in the first half and Simon Kucharewicz also came up big for JCU, recording six points and hauling in five boards.  Meanwhile, for the Student Princes, Kiere Bennie was the leading scorer with 10 points.

In the second half, Heidelberg went on an early run, heating up from beyond-the-arc. John Carroll responded to the pressure, keeping pace even when the home team pulled within one point.

Free throws became crucial to the outcome, as both John Carroll and Heidelberg got into the bonus early on in the half.  The Blue Streaks ultimately shot 44 free throws, hitting 30 of them. With Linane scoring 17 points in the second half, along with Wallack and Papich dropping some key buckets, John Carroll increased their lead and never looked back; going up 70-58 with nine minutes left.  The Student Princes remained close, but in the end, John Carroll's ball control and offensive rebounds sealed the deal. 

Linane's dish to a Kucharewicz for a two-handed slam was the exclamation point, giving John Carroll the win, 95-78.  

Up next for JCU is a home matchup on Saturday with the Ohio Northern Polar Bears at 2 p.m.