On day one of the Christopher Newport Invitational, the John Carroll University men's basketball team defeated the Saints of Thomas More College 79-74.  

This is the second time in 2018 that the Blue Streaks took on the Saints. The teams previously faced each other last season in the first round of the NCAA tournament, where the Blue Streaks defeated the Saints 95-72 at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

The Blue Streaks had to play a game of catchup in the first half. The Saints opened with a 6-0 run, which fueled their momentum for a majority of the half.

With 3:40 left on the clock and Thomas More holding a one-point lead (24-23), the Blue Streaks made one last effort to take the lead before heading into the locker room. Jackson Sartain started things off for JCU with a three ball to give the Blue Streaks the 26-24 lead. The Saints would quickly respond with a layup to tie the game at 26, but the Blue Streaks went on to outscore Thomas More 8-3 in the final minutes to make the score 34-29 going into halftime. Greg Parella scored all eight points for John Carroll, with six of them coming from three pointers and the other two coming from behind the charity stripe.

John Carroll held on to their lead for most of the second half, with the Blue Streaks taking their highest lead of the game (11) twice throughout. In the final three minutes of regulation, however, the Saints came back to within striking distance after Thomas More's Ralph Stone hit a jumper to cut the Blue Streak lead to three (73-70). With the game on the line and both teams being forced to foul. Jimmy Berger, Connor Fitzgerald, and Sean Flannery made their way to the charity stripe. The trio combined for a perfect 6-6 and secured the win for the Blue Streaks.  

Four Blue Streaks finished the game in the double digits. Sartain led the JCU offense with 18 points, shooting .750 (6-8) from beyond the arc, while Parella and Flannery followed with 16 apiece. Berger also tallied 13 points in addition to tying Parella for the team best in assists (5).  

On defense, Flannery led the team in steals (3), matching his average per game this season.

With the win, John Carroll improves to 3-0 on the season.

John Carroll will next face the host of the invitational, Christopher Newport, in the championship game. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.