John Carroll JCU 20-1,14-0 OAC

Wilmington (OH) WILM 8-13,4-10 OAC

John Carroll JCU

20-1,14-0 OAC

Final

Feb. 03, 2024

Wilmington (OH) WILM

8-13,4-10 OAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
John Carroll JCU	42	41	83
Wilmington (OH) WILM	28	37	65

Summary
Box Score

Jose Figueroa

John Carroll clinched at least a share of the OAC Regular Season Championship with today's victory.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/3/2024 4:41:00 PM | Deuce Zak, Senior Staff Writer

Men's Basketball Conquers Quakers on Saturday Roadtrip

WILMINGTON -- The trip south to Fred Raizk Arena is never easy. At over 200 miles worth of driving, it is easily the longest trip the men's basketball team has made all season.

The long trip did not faze the Blue Streaks, who walked onto Hermann Court and rocked the Quakers of Wilmington, 83-65.

The win was not pretty, but it kept the Streaks at a perfect 14-0 in the conference, and with a little help, guaranteed a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title.

Unlike the previous meeting between the two teams, the Quakers did not shy away from pushing the tempo from the get-go. But the visitors didn't mind. After the initial 1-0 lead for the Quakers, the Blue and Gold would never trail again, taking control early.

Chase Toppin, Luke Chicone, and Luka Eller all got on the board early for a 5-1 lead. A five-point Chicone run soon pushed the lead to 9, and the Streaks were rolling. By the 13-minute mark, the lead was double digits for the University Heights squad, with a Will Yontek layup and Aidan Fitzgerald three-pointer continuing to increase the deficit, leading 19-7. Another two Blue Streak buckets from the big man duo of Henry Raynor and Will Yontek got the lead to 16, but the scrambling Quakers managed to respond.

The home team got a couple baskets in a row to decrease the gap, and their transition style of play led to both teams trading baskets in quick succession throughout the contest.

The lead got below single digits at the 7-minute mark, but the Blue and Gold countered and brought it back beyond 10 at 36-24 with three minutes remaining. Both teams got buckets to go in the final three minutes of the half, and the Blue Streaks ran into the halftime locker room enjoying a 42-28 lead.

The Streaks took a stranglehold on the matchup early in the second half with an opening 6-0 run to balloon the lead to 20 at 48-28. The Quakers attempted to fight back, but had difficulty closing the gap. The transition game became more important in the second half, with both teams trading buckets in quick succession, possessions being as short as 3 seconds at times.

At the halfway point of the second, the Quakers managed to shrink the lead to 10 points at 59-49, with a short spurt from the hosts keeping the game close. However, it did not take long for the Blue Streaks to respond in kind, and they ran to a 10-0 run on the backs of Raynor, Toppin, and Chicone.

The back-and-forth tone and tempo would continue for the rest of the half, with the Quakers not able to get within striking distance again for the final seven minutes.

In the end, despite some sloppy moments and foul trouble across both teams, the Blue Streaks managed to get the win at 83-65.

It wasn't always pretty for the Blue and Gold, but they managed to get it done. Luke Chicone led all scorers with 20 points and fell only an assist shy of a double-double with 9, shooting 50% from the field. Chase Toppin had a great performance, putting up 19 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Will Yontek once again was an anchor in the paint for the Blue Streaks, scoring 16 points with 5 boards on a scorching hot 8-of-9 from the field.

The Blue Streaks shot 49.2% from the field on the afternoon, along with 30 trips to the charity stripe, where they shot an even 70%, a huge difference in the game.

Looking ahead, the Blue and Gold have another key road trip coming up, as they head to Alliance for a vital tussle with the Purple Raiders of Mount Union on Wednesday. A JCU win would clinch the conference regular season trophy outright, as the Blue Streaks own a 4-game lead over the second-place Raiders with four games left to play.

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