In a crosstown rivalry dating back to 1921, John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace have played it fairly even. Entering play tonight, Baldwin Wallace had won 60 times, John Carroll had earned victories 57 times. There have been many close affairs throughout the history of the series and on rare occasions, first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference has been on the line.

The Blue Streaks have had recent success in the rivalry, highlighted by 15 wins in the last 21 meetings between the two and swept the Yellow Jackets in the 2016-17 season. JCU put its #20 national ranking and its sole possession of first place on the line when it traveled to Berea on Wednesday night.

Unfortunately for the Blue Streaks, a season low offensive output dampened by a tough night from beyond the arc enabled the Yellow Jackets to secure an 88-79 win.

With the loss, the two teams have identical records (13-3 overall, 7-2 OAC) and share first place with Marietta (also 13-3 overall, 7-2 in the OAC). Tonight marked the conclusion of the first half of the OAC schedule.

Baldwin Wallace came out hot to start the game, hitting four 3-point shots in the first four minutes. JCU would weather the storm, as the largest lead the Yellow Jackets had in the first half was 12 points.

A layup from freshman Jackson Sartain at the 14:38 mark tied the game at 16, but the Yellow Jackets managed to gain their lead right back. Baldwin Wallace made an incredible nine treys in the first half, never allowing JCU to grab a lead. Despite the adversity, JCU still only trailed 48-41 going into halftime. John Carroll's offense was spread out with no player scoring in double digits, but five players scoring seven or more in the first half.

A tight affair would ensue in the second half as senior John Cirillo hit a 3-point shot within the first 3 minutes to make the score 48-46, still in favor of the Yellow Jackets. The lead stayed with BW until a layup from senior Antonio Vuyancih tied the game at 72 with five minutes left in regulation. John Carroll would finally gain the momentum after grabbing their first lead of the night thanks to a Cirillo free throw.

In the last five minutes the two squads traded leads six times.

In a pivotal moment of the match, after the Blue Streaks went up 77-76 off a Jimmy Berger layup with 2:36 remaining, Baldwin Wallace responded with a dunk. JCU head coach Pete Moran protested that the BW player had hung on the rim too long and was hit with a technical foul.  Cam Kuhn nailed the two free throws, starting a 10-2 run that closed the game out for the host squad over the final 2:14.

Vuyancih led JCU in scoring with 23 points, while senior Matt Csurhan had 15 points. Jimmy Berger contributed 13 points along with five assists.

John Carroll struggled greatly from beyond the arc, shooting 7 of 28 in the contest. The 25 percent shooting mark is well off of their season average of 40 percent. The 79 points was the first time all season that JCU had failed to reach 80 points in a game.

The Blue Streaks next test will come on Saturday January 20 as they host #18 Marietta College. That match up will begin at 2 pm from the DeCarlo Center.