In their first true test of the 2017-18 season, all eyes were on John Carroll as the team traveled to Alliance, Ohio, for a battle between a pair of top tier Ohio Athletic Conference teams Wednesday night.

Unfortunately for the Blue Streaks it would end in defeat as the host Mount Union Purple Raiders held on for the 87-83 victory. The loss is John Carroll's first of the campaign, and is the first time JCU scored less than 100 points in a contest this season.

Despite it still being early in the season, the contest looked to have significant OAC implications as both teams are regulars in the OAC tournament. Three of the last four postseason tournaments have featured contests between these two squads which has only intensified an already heated rivalry.

The first half proved to be as tight as advertised, with neither team giving the other much of an edge. The largest lead was 27-21 in favor of Mount Union at the 8:38 mark, and which only lasted nine seconds until John Carroll senior Matthew Csuhran hit a 3-point shot to dwindle the lead to just four. JCU got hot to end the half, going on a 13-5 run capped off by a sophomore Jimmy Berger layup with just six seconds remaining to end the half with a 44-40 lead and some potential momentum going forward in the contest.

The Purple Raiders would not allow any such momentum to linger from the late run for the Blue Streaks. Both squads would find themselves notched at 50 within the first five minutes of the second half and once again a back-and-forth affair would ensue. Tied at 79-79 with 2:29 left, the Purple Raiders would hit a three-point shot to gain the slim advantage. Senior Antonio Vuyancih hit two late free throws to make the score 82-81, but UMU would eventually pull away by scoring five of the final seven points of the contest.

JCU was led in scoring by Jimmy Berger and Cshuran who scored 17 and 14 respectively. Senior John Cirillo scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

With the slim loss, John Carroll falls to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in OAC play while Mount Union improves to 6-1 and 2-0 in the conference. Next up for the Blue Streaks is the nationally ranked Marietta Pioneers, who will host John Carroll this Saturday, December 9th at 3:00 pm. Live statistics and video can be found through jcusports.com.