The hot hand from three-point range proved to be the best friend of John Carroll men's basketball on Wednesday night, as the Blue Streaks topped Baldwin Wallace, 75-67 at Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, Ohio.
At 14:11 of the first half, junior Matt Csuhran made his first three-point shot against crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace (10-11, 5-9 OAC). The junior would not stop there, shooting 5-8 from three on the day.
Overall, JCU (14-6, 11-3 OAC) connected on 7-of-15 three-pointers.
Csuhran,
Ryan Berger, David Linane, and
Doug Caputo all contributed double-figures in points on the day. Csuhran led the way with 19 points in just 16 minutes, while also grabbing five rebounds. Senior
Simon Kucharewicz had eight rebounds of his own to go along with nine points. It is the 11th game with eight or more rebounds for Kucharewicz.
In the first half, the teams came out quick and combined for 31 points in less than seven minutes.
From there on, the scoring would slow, but the pace remained rapid. Neither JCU nor BW used a timeout and the teams combined for only eight fouls in the entire half. A Yellow Jackets scoring drought would assist JCU, as BW only scored two points in six minutes. JCU began to pull away, but three-point shots by BW put the home team right back in the game and tied the score at 26. John Carroll took a 32-28 advantage into the half.
Csuhran would get the Blue Streaks out to a strong start in the second half, hitting an early three as JCU expanded its lead to 53-42 midway through the final period.
Baldwin Wallace once again was stifled by the JCU defense, only scoring three points from 14:49 to 7:30. With the lead dwindled to just 10 points (62-52) late, BW looked ready to make a push. Senior David Linane would end those hopes, scoring seven points in the final six minutes to finish off the contest.
JCU held the Yellow Jackets to just 32 percent shooting from the field. BW shot just 11-42 from the three-point line and an overall 23-71.
The Blue Streaks next play on Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m. as they host Ohio Northern in a showdown of top-three OAC teams.
