In an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup, the John Carroll men's basketball team traveled to Muskingum to take on the Fighting Muskies. The Blue Streaks were looking to get in the win column and avoid their first 0-3 start since 1989-90 -- the school's first year in the league.

After a close, back and forth affair, the Blue Streaks were unable to get that first conference victory, falling by an 85-79 count. John Carroll (5-3, 0-3 OAC) has dropped their past three games after starting the season 5-0.

After a tightly contested opening five minutes, John Carroll's Connor Fitzgerald made three pointers on three consecutive possessions to give the Blue Streaks a 18 -11 lead. Muskingum went on its own 9-0 run behind a couple of baskets by Carter Carson and a Marcus Dempsey three pointer.

After Dempsey sank two free throws to increase Muskingum's lead to 23-20, Fitzgerald caught fire again for John Carroll, knocking down two more three pointers and leading the team on a 16-2 run.

The Muskies were able to clamp down on defense and force a few turnovers which lead to some fast break points, enabling them to close the lead down to 36-32. The team was able to gain a two-point advantage after a deep three pointer by Dempsey and a layup by Mitch Clark. However, Ryan Berger answered back with a three pointer of his own, giving John Carroll a 43-42 lead at the half.

In the second half, John Carroll was able to regain control of the game with several highly contested jump shots by the Berger brothers. With about 12 minutes left in the game and the Blue Streaks up 58-54, Muskingum's Carter Carson sank a 3 pointer, and Dempsey made a layup and drained another three pointer to give the Muskies a 62-58 lead. Emmett Chambers answered back with four straight points to even the score. Dempsey responded with a three, and Ryan Berger made a free throw and a layup to even it back up at 65-65.

But that was as close as it would be the rest of the game as the Muskies were able to pull away by nine with about a minute and a half left to play after Dempsey scored 11 points during his team's crucial 17-8 run.

Despite being down 82-73, John Carroll would not go down without a fight. Ryan Berger was able to make two straight threes for the Blue Streaks to close the deficit to 82-79 with a minute left to play. After a Dempsey turnover for Muskingum, John Carroll was not able to score as Emmett Chambers returned the favor with a turnover of his own.

After the turnover, Alex Masinelli split a pair of free throws to put the Muskies up 83 to 79. Still with a chance of an incredible comeback, John Carroll missed a three and the ball went out of bounds off of the Muskies, giving John Carroll another chance with 10 seconds left. The Blue Streaks were not able to do anything with it, however, as Sean Flannery's pass for Jimmy Berger was intercepted by the Muskies.

Leading the way for John Carroll, Fitzgerald finished with 18 points behind a career-high six three pointers. Jimmy Berger ended with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and seven assists, while his brother Ryan had 15 points and 7 assists. As a team, the Blue Streaks struggled from the free throw line as they made 8 of 17 shots.
           
For Muskingum (4-3, 2-1 OAC), Dempsey had 38 points, five rebounds, and six assists. Trey Singleton had 14 points as well.