UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH. - The John Carroll men's basketball team welcomed Penn State Harrisburg to the first game of the JCU Classic Saturday afternoon.

The Blue and Gold came away with a gritty 79-76 victory and improved to 7-2 on the year. Luke Chicone led the way for JCU with 27 points and seven assists, while Casey Hunt chipped in 15 points. 

In the first half, Chicone was putting on a show by beating defenders off the dribble and finishing contested layup after contested layup. 

The graduate student scored five-straight points to give JCU a 34-23 advantage with 4:47 in the half. 

With time running down in the half, Chicone pulled up for three and missed, but Sean Collins hustled for the offensive rebound and beat the buzzer to give John Carroll a 39-28 edge at the break. 

In the second half, Penn State switched to a 2-3 zone and forced the Blue Streaks to shoot from behind the arc, as JCU went 2-15 from downtown. 

JCU had its largest lead of the afternoon of 13 points, as Brandon Rose made one free throw following a technical foul by Dylan Moore of Penn State Harrisburg. 

Penn State used the fast break to their advantage by getting out in transition and converting on layups to cut into the John Carroll lead. Penn State Harrisburg took their first lead of the second half with 2:17 remaining.

With under two minutes to go JCU maintained composure and Rose connected on two key jumpers, one to give JCU a 77-76 edge. 

Chicone would ice the game with a pair of free throws and a high-iq play with three seconds to go and threw the ball down the court and time expired.  

The Blue Streaks will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. to face off against Chatham.