For a team that has been so dominant for so long on its home court, falling behind by double digits has been a dispiriting reversal of fortune as of late for the John Carroll men's basketball team.
Even tonight against crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace, the Blue Streaks were trailing by 18 points in the first half and were down by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Just like they did Saturday at Capital, the Blue & Gold showed some spirit.
John Carroll rallied from ten down with 3:27 to play to force overtime, but ultimately fell short by an 89-85 score at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
There were shades of last Wednesday in the first half this evening. Just as Heidelberg had done on January 9, Baldwin Wallace seemed to take the life out of the home crowd with a dominant effort in the opening 20 minutes. When Luke Schaefer knocked down a pair of free throws at the 6:19 mark, the visitors nearly doubled up the home squad, 35-17.
JCU made several mini runs over the remainder of the half, but could not whittle much off the Baldwin Wallace lead, and trailed 48-34 at the break.
Baldwin Wallace remained in control in the early going of the second half, and pushed the lead back up to 17 points at 59-42 with 14:49 showing on the second half clock following a lay-up by Jay Battle.
The Blue Streaks showed some spark, however, and got the deficit down to seven points when
Connor Fitzgerald scored off a pass from
Jimmy Berger to make the score 59-52 with 11:46 left, capping a 10-0 run.
John Carroll continued to make a push, and when
Emil Hess buried a jumper at the top of the lane, the Blue Streaks were only down by four at 68-64 with 6:26 to play.
Still, despite their best efforts, the Blue & Gold stared down a 76-66 disadvantage with 3:27 remaining in regulation.
Spirit indeed.Â
A three ball by
Jackson Sartain, a lay-up by
Ben Merril, free throws by
Sean Flannery and a lay-up by Fitzgerald comprised a 9-0 run that cut the lead to a single point.Â
Jimmy Berger then tied the score at 78-78 with a traditional three-point play at the 1:06 mark shortly after Michael Quiring had given the Yellow Jackets a three-point lead with two free throws.
Both teams had chances to add to the score over the final 66 seconds, but
Luke Hippler blocked a Battle lay-up, and Berger missed a three pointer, keeping the score at 78-78 heading to the extra session.
Offense was hard to come by in the overtime period, as the score stood 80-79 in favor of BW entering the final two minutes. A Schaefer three pointer extended Baldwin Wallace's lead to four at 83-79, only to have JCU counter with four consecutive points by Flannery to knot the game at 83-83 with 1:10 remaining.
Battle hit two free throws and Flannery again tied the score at 85-85 with 43 ticks left.
It would by Kyle Nader, a Baldwin Wallace senior who had played in this rivalry numerous times, that come up with the big shot. Faking a three, he drove the lane and threaded through a lay-up to give his team an 87-85 lead.Â
The two points were just his fifth and sixth of the night, but came at a crucial juncture.
Flannery again tried to answer, but was met by Nader who altered the shot just enough to force a miss. he got the rebound and sent a pass ahead to a wide open Scahefer, who iced the game with a fast break lay-up with six seconds left.
John Carroll (6-10, 2-7 OAC) was led by 18 points from Sartain. Berger added 15 while Flannery (12) and Fitzgerald (11) also reached double digits. Hippler had a game- and career-high 17 rebounds as JCU won the rebounding battle, 46-40.
The Blue Streaks suffered in the first half with a shooting percentage of .387 (12-31) but had a much better second half (.517, 15-29). Still, it was not enough to prevent a fourth consecutive loss for John Carroll -- its longest since a four-game skid in 2007-08.
Baldwin Wallace (11-5, 5-4 OAC) was led by a game-high 27 points from Battle, who scored 18 of those in the first half. Schaefer had 19 points and Quiring added 14 as the Yellow Jackets won for just the third time in their last 13 visits to the DeCarlo Center.
