The John Carroll men's basketball team got back to their winning ways Saturday afternoon at the Tony DeCarlo Center by way of a 100-88 win over Muskingum in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup.

The Blue Streaks used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to take the lead and never looked back as head coach Pete Moran picked up his 50th career victory.

John Carroll and Muskingum traded buckets throughout the first stanza. The Fighting Muskies took an early 4-0 lead before Jimmy Berger scored the Blue Streaks first points of the game. A three pointer by Jackson Sartain gave John Carroll a 13-10 lead just under four minutes into the game, but Marcus Dempsey - the nation's second leading scorer - responded for Muskingum with a four-point play. Moments later, Luke Hippler made a layup and John Carroll regained the lead. After both teams missed shots over the next minute, Dempsey converted a traditional three-point play and the Fighting Muskies went up 17-15. Muskingum lead for a good portion of the rest of the first half and even were in front by eight points at one point, but the Blue Streaks were able to cut the deficit to 48-44 going into the intermission.

Out of the break, Muskingum extended its lead to nine, but John Carroll clawed their way back to tie the game at 66-66 on a Ryan Berger made layup. This was the turning point in the game and the start of a 12-0 run for the Blue and Gold.

Jimmy Berger followed up his brother with an "and-1" layup with 12 minutes remaining in the game and the Blue Streaks led from there on out. Ryan Berger made two free throws, Emmett Chambers made a layup, and then Sartain made a three pointer to give the Blue Streaks the 76-66 advantage with ten minutes to go in the contest.

John Carroll took its biggest lead of the game after Ryan Berger made a three pointer to make the game 81-68 with just under nine minutes remaining. The Fighting Muskies kept on fighting and got the score to within six points with three minutes to go, but only scored three more points in the final part of the game. John Carroll secured the victory with five straight Sean Flannery free throws to end the contest. 

Ryan Berger lead the way for John Carroll with 28 points. Sartain added 20, Jimmy Berger contributed 19, and Flannery scored 15 as John Carroll improved to 12-5 overall and 5-5 in the OAC.

Dempsey lead Muskingum with a game-high 35 points. The Muskies fell for the seventh consecutive game, and their record dipped to 7-10 overall and 2-8 in the OAC.

John Carroll shot 50% from the field and 44.8% from behind the arc and had 14 steals to propel them to the win. 

The Blue Streaks will be back in action on the road this Wednesday, as they travel to Alliance, Ohio, to play against the Raiders of Mount Union. Tip off is set for 7 pm.