John Carroll faced off with Capital University for the third time this season in the quarterfinal round of the OAC Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

Round one went to Capital by a 73-72 score in University Heights on January 18. Round two went to John Carroll by a 100-87 count in double overtime down in Bexley on February 8.

After two close rounds, almost everyone expected a similar outcome for the third.

The Blue Streaks had other plans.

JCU defeated the Crusaders, 84-54, to their spot in the semifinal round of the OAC tournament.  The Blue Streaks, seeded third, will face second-seeded Marietta on Thursday, February 27, at 7:00 p.m., in Marietta, Ohio.

A lay up from Sean Flannery put the Blue Streaks on the board first, but their lead did not last long. In the first seven minutes of play, neither team maintained more than a two point lead.

With 13:01 remaining in the first half, PJ Flannery hit a three point shot that would give the Blue Streaks a five point lead, their largest in the first seven minutes of play, and mark a change in momentum in the game. 

In the following offensive possession, Ryan Berger hit a three point shot to put John Carroll ahead of Capital, 19-11, with 12:06 to play. In the meantime, John Carroll's defense would hold Capital to 11 points for nearly six minutes. On offense, Jackson Sartain added four points to the board, leaving the Blue Streaks leading 23-11 with 10:33 left to play, forcing Capital to call a timeout. 

Despite efforts to regroup, Capital would manage just eight points over the final 12 minutes of the half.

P.J. Flannery tallied another three point shot to increase John Carroll's lead to 16 at 29-13. Capital answered with a three pointer of their own, to make the score 29-16 with 6:39 left. The score remained that way until the 4:25 mark, where P.J. Flannery would hit yet another three point shot, giving John Carroll a 32-16 point lead over Capital.

In the final seconds, Jimmy Berger made a layup that made the score at halftime 41-19, John Carroll's largest lead of the opening 20 minutes.

John Carroll's dominance continued into the second half when Sartain resumed the show by draining a three point shot in the first few seconds. In the next three minutes, Capital added 8 points to the board, while only allowing John Carroll to score two, making the score 46-27 with 16:50 remaining in regulation. 

19 points was as close as the Crusaders would get in the second half.

The Blue Streaks did not let up, hitting the 50 point mark and a 23 point lead with 15:41 remaining. P.J. Flannery hit his fourth three pointer of the night at the 13:50 mark, which was shortly followed by Sartain's third three point shot, to put John Carroll up over Capital 58-34 with 12:56 left to play. In the next two minutes, John Carroll went on a 13-point scoring run, six of which included three point shots from Hugh Brown and a dunk from Emmett Chambers to keep John Carroll in a safe, 68-37, lead with 9:46 left to play. 

JCU would lead by as many as 32 points before settling on the 30-point margin.

The 30-point win is the largest margin of victory by a John Carroll men's basketball team in its OAC Tournament history, surpassing a 28-point win (100-72) over Mount Union on February 23, 1994, also in the quarterfinal round.

John Carroll was led by Sartain with 17 points, Ryan Berger with 16 and PJ Flannery with 12. Luke Hippler led the Blue Streaks with eight rebounds, while Jimmy Berger followed closely behind with six. Sean Flannery dished out nine assists. The victory improved JCU's record to 18-8 on the season.

Capital, whose season came to a close at 13-13, was paced by 12 points from Reed Bradfield.