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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
JCU hillbert classic
The Blue Streaks defeated Hillbert to win the tournament on Saturday. 
100
Winner John Carroll JCU 2-0
79
Hilbert HILM 1-2
Winner
John Carroll JCU
2-0
100
Final
79
Hilbert HILM
1-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 51 49 100
Hilbert HILM 33 46 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Deuce Zak, Staff Writer

Men's Basketball Captures Hillbert College Classic Championship, Defeating Hillbert

HAMBURG, N.Y. -- Coming off a historic night by Jackson Sartain, John Carroll University Men's Basketball put their foot on the gas once again on Saturday. In game two of the Hilbert Hawks Tip-off Tournament, the Blue Streaks found their defensive footing in a big way, playing in the Championship against the host Hilbert and defeated the Hawks 100-79. 

The game played to a much different tune than Friday's shootout and track meet. The theme of the afternoon was getting to the rim, as the Blue Streaks got to the hoop early and often, as did the Hawks.  

There were three ties early on in the first half, and for the first 15 minutes, both squads looked evenly matched. The score was as close as 27-23 JCU with nine minutes to go in the first period. After that point, the Blue Streaks went on a 10-0 run, increasing the lead to 14 and never looked back. JCU left the first half up 51-33, holding the Hawks to a mark 20 points fewer than the first half total against Keuka on Friday night. 

The second half was all Blue Streaks. John Carroll quickly extended their lead to 20 points out of the gate in the second, and the Hawks had trouble responding. Defense was once again a major theme early in the second half, with scoring coming very sparsely, with a time as long as two minutes between baskets by either team. 

The Blue Streaks went on multiple runs in the second half, increasing their lead to as much as 31 points with 4:33 remaining. John Carroll played incredible defense throughout the afternoon, giving Hilbert players fits with stellar rebounding, on-ball, and help side defense coming from everyone on the floor. Foul trouble late in the second half gave the Hawks a chance to mount a comeback, but John Carroll held firm and comfortably cruised to a 21-point victory. 

In addition, John Carroll saw scoring from several different places this afternoon, seeing nearly all five starters end in double figures. Chase Toppin, who finished with 20 points, got to the basket from the get go, securing multiple 3-point plays in the first half. Eric Hanna also consistently got to the basket, finishing with 18 points and five assists, mostly on passes from under the basket to cutters or shooters. Jackson Sartain chipped in with 15 points. Connor O'Toole made 3 of his 5 triples and put up 13 in the big win.

Two freshmen saw quality minutes, with Blake Booker scoring 6 points and playing impressive defense, and Omar Abuhamdeh getting his first collegiate points, stepping in for starters in foul trouble. The team finished shooting 51% from the field, scoring half of their 100 points in the paint. They also shared the ball well, notching 20 assists. 

For the Hawks, the defense of John Carroll was noticed, as the team shot 41% from the field and 26% from three. Jahmel Demery lead Hilbert with 20 points, Shawn Gashi providing a solid 14, including going 8-10 from the charity stripe and Eric Jackson chipping in 10 points himself. The Hawks struggled to take care of the ball, as they turned it over 20 times.

The Hawks did get to the line quite a bit in the second half, shooting 11-15 from the line, and 15-21 for the game. Once again, the opposing team's bench outscored the Blue Streaks, with the Hawks having 40 bench points to John Carroll's 26. Both teams collected 43 rebounds, while Hilbert won the second chance points battle 19-16. The Hawks also only put up four fewer shots than the Blue Streaks, the much improved defense of John Carroll being the defining factor in this game. 

For their efforts, Sartain and Toppin were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Blue Streaks will look to win another tournament next weekend, as they head to Buffalo to participate in the Buffalo State Coles Classic, taking on Medaille College on Friday, November 19 at 6 pm. 
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