One possession decided the game. 

The John Carroll men's basketball team lost that last possession, leaving the Purple Raiders on top as 88-85 winners. 

Two free throws by Mount Union's Collen Gurley made it a 3-point game with 16 seconds left. From there, the Blue Streaks had three chances to tie the game back up, all three unsuccessful.

The first chance was a 3-point attempt by Ryan Berger off an in-bound. Berger was fouled on the play but the foul was ruled as called on the floor and not in the act of shooting.

John Carroll's all-time 3-point leader Jackson Sartain, had the second chance to sink a three with three seconds left. It was well contested. No good. 

Sean Flannery grabbed the offensive rebound and lofted up a prayer but time expired. 

John Carroll was seeking revenge after their prior loss against Mount Union earlier this season. They started out strong against the Purple Raiders with a 10-2 lead only five minutes into the game.

Both teams traded punches the entire opening half but the Blue Streaks had the best of the Purple Raiders at the break. JCU led 43-40 after Jimmy Berger finished a buzzer beater layup. 

After leading essentially the entire first half, the Blue Streaks played slightly behind in the second.
 
Early in the second half, Mount Union dominated the game and went on a 9-0 run right away. However, the Blue and Gold steadied the ship, responding with a 9-3 run and tying the game up at 54. 

The Purple Raiders paced JCU from there, leading until the 9:24 mark. The Blue Streaks tied it once again. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way. 

It went down to the wire. 

With just under three minutes left in the game with the score tied at 82, Jimmy Berger nailed a free throw to give the Blue Streaks the one-point lead with 2:22 remaining. Berger led JCU with a season-high 26 points, also adding seven boards.

It was Gurley's free throw with 1:32 left gave Mount the lead for good, but not without the Blue Streaks doing everything they could to take it away.

The Blue Streaks fall 12-6 overall on the year and 5-6 in the OAC.

Connor Fitzgerald scored 14 points off the bench, 11 of which came in the first half. Ryan Berger added 15 points. 

Mount Union, which improved to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in league play, was led by 27 points from D'Vontay Friga and 22 from Gurley.

John Carroll will look to bounce back against Marietta this Saturday at 2:00 pm at the DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights.