The John Carroll University Blue Streaks had been riding high since the start of 2018, winning six of their first seven contests in the new year.

However, the squad took a significant hit in last Saturday's 112-103 losst against Muskingum, costing JCU its sole possession of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings.

John Carroll was hoping to bounce back against a last place Otterbein University team, but the Cardinals -- fresh off their first win of the season -- had other plans. The Blue Streaks had to work the full 40 minutes to produce what became a decisive 97-71 victory, but the score was not a proper indicator of the effort put forth by the home team.

Out of the gate, the game was tight. Otterbein led through the first few minutes with John Carroll's first unit struggling offensively. Head coach Pete Moran decided to make the move to the second unit, which included the likes of freshman Jackson Sartain. The rookie came out scorching, amassing 11 points in five minutes. He buried three of his first four shots from deep and putting John Carroll in the lead.

But Otterbein would match the offensive outburst. The one-win team gained back the lead by shooting a solid 48 percent in the first half. The Cardinals were tenacious on defense, holding the Blue Streaks to 38 percent shooting. The hosts held the lead until the final minute of the first half, when a layup by senior Brian Papich gave JCU the 39-38 advantage. Papich would add on a free throw to make the lead 40-38 heading into the locker room.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued well into the second half. Neither team would hold more than a four-point advantage from the 16:30 mark to 8:40 mark. It was at that time that another player off the second unit provided a spark for the JCU offense. Senior Matt Csurhan, who only had five points up to that 8:40 mark, outscored Otterbein 9-0 by himself over a two minute span. The outburst gave JCU a comfortable 72-61 lead.

John Carroll's offense exploded from that point. Over the final ten minutes, the Blue Streaks outscored the Cardinals 37-13 to put the game away. The Blue Streaks improved their shooting 10 percent and ended shooting 48 percent from the field.

JCU (16-4, 10-3 OAC) was led in scoring by Csurhan and Sartain, who both scored 17 points. Antonio Vuyancih notched 16 points and senior John Cirillo contributed 12 points. Csurhan also had 10 rebounds, giving him his first double-double as a Blue Streak.

Otterbein (1-19, 1-12 OAC) was paced by a game-high 19 points from Nick Koontz, who was 8-11 from the field.

The Blue Streaks next contest is on Saturday, February 3 as they host the Wilmington Quakers (9-10, 5-8 OAC) in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. That contest begins at 2:00 pm.