The John Carroll men's basketball team entered this week with two rematches from last year's conference tournament looming.

They passed their first test on Wednesday night.

John Carroll was able to earn an 91-89 win over Mount Union in University Heights, Ohio. The Blue Streaks improved to 2-4, with a 1-1 record in the OAC. The Purple Raiders dropped to 5-2 and 1-1 in conference play.

Ryan Berger led JCU in scoring with 18, including four three-pointers. DeAllen Jackson led all scorers with 35. Six different Blue Streaks scored over 10 points in the win.

John Carroll started the game off with a 5-0 run, with a Brian Papich layup and a David Linane three-pointer.

Papich, was inserted into the starting lineup for JCU and the impact was noticeable as he scored 10 points in the first half. Senior Simon Kucharewicz was dominant in the first half, leading the Blue Streaks in rebounds with seven and tallying nine points as well.

Mount Union was forced to call a timeout after John Cirillo used a ball fake to get an easy layup tying the game at 28-28 with 5:33 remaining in the period.

It was a back and forth affair, the Purple Raiders seemed to start pulling away with a five point lead until freshman Ryan Berger buried back-to-back three pointers, giving JCU a 40-38 lead with 2:30 remaining in the half.

Mount Union was able to respond quickly with a pair of three-pointers from their two leading scorers DeAllen Jackson and JJ Kukura.

With six seconds remaining in the half Doug Caputo had the ball in the low post and found a cutting Cirillo for an and-one with one second remaining, making the score 48-47 heading into the break in favor of the Purple Raiders.

Papich making his second career start led JCU in scoring with 10, Cirillo, Caputo, and Linane all added six points each. Jackson led all scorers with 16 points in the first half. Jackson also had seven rebounds and two assists.

The Blue and Gold came out of the locker room quickly, and took a 59-48 lead.

Jackson made a contested three-pointer in the corner to end an 11-0 run and a four minute scoring drought for Mount Union. The Purple Raiders regained a lead with their own 11-0 run, capped off with a Tommy Stenger layup.

Kukura threw a pass, which Papich intercepted and was able to throw down a monster dunk. Mount Union took a timeout, giving JCU a 75-73 lead with 8:47 remaining.

Following the big slam from Papich, freshman Ryan Berger converted on a four point play.

John Carroll went on a 13-0 run that lasted over five minutes; the JCU defense stepped up, causing four turnovers and only allowed two shots during that span. The Blue Streaks led 84-73 with 4:24 remaining in the contest.

Nathan Bower-Malone connected on a transition three with 4:10 remaining in the contest, it was the first basket since Kukura made a transition layup with 9:18 left in the half.

Mount Union went on an 11-2 run, making the score 87-84 in favor of John Carroll with 1:45 left in the game. Jackson connected on a three-pointer with 39 seconds left.

Berger stepped up to the line with four seconds remaining and split the free throws, but made up for the miss by recording the game winning steal.

John Carroll will host #3 Marietta College this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.