Last year, it was all about being home for the John Carroll University men's basketball team in the Ohio Athletic Conference postseason. In 2019, it will be all about the road.
So far, the road has been good.
After knocking off nationally ranked and regular season OAC tri-champion Marietta on the road Tuesday night, JCU takes aim at another tri-champion, Mount Union, on Thursday, February 21.
The Blue Streaks will face off against the Purple Raiders in a semifinal round match-up, set for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance, Ohio.
Live Stats and
Live Video will be available for this matchup.
When #6 seed JCU visits #2 seed Mount Union, it will eb the third time the two teams have met in 2018-19. The two teams split the season series by defending their home court. Mount Union won on December 5th in convincing fashion, 95-74, while John Carroll returned the favor with a 82-69 victory on January 23rd in University Heights.
The Blue Streaks (13-13, 8-10 OAC) are headlined by
Jimmy Berger as he leads the team in scoring with 16.4 PPG. Twin brother
Ryan Berger was the hero for the Blue Streaks in the first game of the OAC tournament. He led the team with 27 points, including two 3 pointers in the last 44 seconds, to send John Carroll to the semifinal round with a 82-79 win over Marietta.
Mount Union (21-5, 14-4 OAC) will look to continue to defend home court as they are 12-0 in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex this season. Nathan Bower-Malone and Tommy Stegner lead the way for the Purple Raider both with 12.8 and 12.2 PPG respectively.
this will be the eighth all-time meeting in OAC postseason play between John Carroll and Mount Union. The Blue Streaks are 5-2 against the Purple Raiders in OAC playoff match-ups, and won the last time they played in Alliance. In 2015, JCU, as the #5 seed, beat top-seeded Mount Union to advance to the title game.
JCU is 9-9 all-time in the semifinal round of the OAC Tournament, but owns a 9-3 record in its last 12 semifinal match-ups dating back to first semifinal win in 2003.
The winner of this contest will advance in the tournament to take on the winner of the matchup between #5 Baldwin Wallace & #1 Capital on Saturday, February 23rd with a location TBD. If Mount Union wins, it would travel to Capital or host Baldwin Wallace. A John Carroll win would mean travel regardless as the Blue Streaks are the lowest remaining seed alive in the bracket.
Tickets for this OAC Basketball Tournament game are as follows:
$8 for adults
$6 for senior citizens (age 62 and older)
$3 for non-OAC students
All OAC students are free with their student ID.
