UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – Despite a hard fought battle against Wilmington College, the John Carroll University Men's Basketball Team suffered a heartbreaking 85-84 loss in the final seconds of Saturday afternoon's contest. 

The Blue Streaks fall to 7-15, 2-13 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), while Wilmington improves to 6-18, 4-14 in the conference. 

Prior to Saturday's regular season finale against the Wilmington Fightin' Quakers, John Carroll recognized the accomplishments and efforts of their senior class comprised of Hugh Brown, PJ Flannery, Owen O'Toole, Jackson Sartain, Mason Trubisky and manager Mike Moran at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. 

The first half of the game proved to be an offensive battle between John Carroll and Wilmington. Despite the Fightin' Quaker's fast 9-2 start, John Carroll battled their way back to take a 10-9 lead via a 3-pointer from Omar Abuhamdeh. 

At the 9:02 mark of the first half, two back to back 3-pointers from Sartain forced Wilmington to take a timeout as John Carroll went ahead 26-23. Sartain's success from behind the line continued as he captured his third consecutive 3-pointer moments later.

The Fightin' Quakers continued to hold on to their lead as they held a double-digit advantage, 46-36 going into the locker room. 

At the end of the first half, Sartain and Abuhamdeh led the team with 11 points each. 

After halftime, John Carroll's offense immediately got back to work. Out of the gates, the Blue Streaks cut the lead to one possession (48-45), courtesy of a dunk from David Gentry. John Carroll's quick comeback forced Wilmington to take their first timeout at the 16:40 mark of the second half. 

At the 6:19 mark, John Carroll tied the game up 71-71 courtesy of a jumper from Brown, which extended John Carroll's scoring run to 8-0. Seconds later, Brown put John Carroll ahead 73-71 with two free throws, but seconds later, Wilmington tied it back up. 

In the final three minutes of the contest, John Carroll and Wilmington continued to exchange leads. After a 3-point attempt from the Fightin' Quakers, Eric Hanna grabbed a board to give John Carroll possession back. 

With 23 seconds left in the game, Abuhamdeh put the Blue Streaks ahead 84-83, on the opposite end of the court but Trubisky picked up his fifth foul resulting in two free throws being awarded to Wilmington's freshman Bryce Bird. 

Bird went 2-2 from the charity stripe, handing Wilmington an 85-84 victory over John Carroll. With less than five seconds remaining Sartain attempted a desperation three as time expired.

Abuhamdeh led John Carroll in points with 19, followed by Sartain with 18 and Gentry with 17. Trubisky finished the day with a team-high nine rebounds, followed by Sartain's five boards. 

John Carroll will look to extend their season on Monday, Feb. 21, when they begin their journey in the OAC Tournament. The location, opponent and time of Monday's conference Tournament game will be announced in the coming days.