On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in University Heights, Ohio, the DeCarlo Varsity Center was full of energy and hope. With fans in the stands and a packed student section rooting them on, the Blue Streaks were looking to give the first place team in the conference a run for their money. 

The first 20 minutes did not lend much to energy or hope.

Thankfully, the second 20 minutes did as John Carroll found their groove on both offense and defense, outscoring the #12 ranked Marietta Pioneers, 46-21, en route to a 67-54 triumph.

Despite the animated gym presence, the Blue and Gold found themselves down, 33-21, at the end of the first half.  JCU made just six field goals in the opening half and shot just .182 from the field. It was even rougher from long range, as the Blue Streaks were just 1-15 (.067) from beyond the arc.

Still, the Blue Streaks only trailed by 12. Emmett Chambers and Mason Trubisky lead in rebounds with 5 apiece. The Berger brother duo of Jimmy and Ryan had eight and six points each, respectively. 

JCU came out at different team in the second half. A 10-2 burst, capped by Ryan Berger's fast break lay-up off a steal, pulled JCU to within 35-31 with just three minutes and eight seconds gone by.

At the 10:50 mark, junior Jackson Sartain recorded his 1000th point in just his third season as a Blue Streak, pulling JCU to within 43-40.

Two possessions, later, Jimmy Berger's steal and lay-up gave JCU its first lead since early in the first half, at 44-43.

The score remained tight entering the final five minutes, with the Blue Streaks clinging to a 53-52 lead. With the shot clock running down and a frenetic scramble for the ball ensuing, Sartain may have hit his biggest shot of the day - bigger than his 1000th point. Connor Fitzgerald flipped the ball to Sartain, who hit a three-pointer on just one leg as the buzzer sounded for a 56-52 lead. Then, on the next trip down, Fitzgerald again found Sartain in the corner for a more conventional three ball, and just like that, JCU held a 59-52 advantage with 4:22 to play.

Sartain's back-to-back three-point field goals ignited a 15-2 run for the Blue Streaks that closed out the contest.

Contributing to this team win, Jimmy Berger and Jackson Sartain lead the Blue Streaks in points for the day. Berger added 19 points to his eight in the first half for a game-high 27. Sartain went 3-7 for his three-point shots and had 17 points in total. Emmett Chambers added four more rebounds in the second half for a total of nine on the day, with teammate Ryan Berger adding eight rebounds as well. 

John Carroll (13-6, 6-6 OAC) shot 15-29 (.517) from the field in the second half while Marietta was held to 7-29 (.2410) from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

Marietta (16-3, 10-2 OAC) was paced by Lukas Isaly, the only Pioneers player who reached double figures, with 13 points. Mike Hall had a team- and game-high ten rebounds.

The men's season is winding down, with only six conference games left before the start of playoffs. The Blue Streaks will next face Heidelberg University at home on February 5th at 7:00 pm.