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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Kyle Irwin media day
Peter Wangechi
78
Franciscan FRN 0-1,0-0 PAC
94
Winner John Carroll JCU 1-0,0-0 NCAC
Franciscan FRN
0-1,0-0 PAC
78
Final
94
John Carroll JCU
1-0,0-0 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Franciscan FRN 46 32 78
John Carroll JCU 39 55 94

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Aiden Ramsden, Senior Staff Writer

Men's Basketball Beats Franciscan to Open 2026-27 Campaign

Kyle Irwin led the charge with a career-high 20 points

BRADFORD, Penn. -- New year, same Blue Streaks. 

John Carroll Men's Basketball opened up the 2026-27 campaign with the same wear and tear style they used last year, outlasting Franciscan en route to a 94-78 victory. 

"We won our way," said Head Coach Pete Moran. "We tired them out, we got them exhausted, that's who we are."

New addition Sam Marbury got the season started with a spot up triple on the opening possession. Franciscan responded quickly with an and-1 opportunity to knot it right back up. After the Barons took a 5-point lead, it was Mike Lamirand's turn from behind the arc to cut it back to two. The two continued to battle as Franciscan managed to keep their lead floating around five. Back to back possessions featuring a Lucas Perusek and-1 followed by a Drew Styers layup had the game tied up at 17. 

The Barons tried to initiate a run but another Lamirand triple thwarted that opportunity. An Aidan Fitzgerald three gave the Blue Streaks their first lead in over 10 minutes. Franciscan quickly changed that, taking the lead back and building momentum. Threes from Jack Zapolnik and Fitzgerald kept the Blue Streaks in it as the opponents refused to let up. Some tough plays down the stretch saw John Carroll going into the break down seven.

Fortunately, though, the Blue Streaks system is built for 40 minutes, not 20. They pride themselves on wearing teams down and that's exactly what they did in the second half. 

The Blue Streaks opened the new half on a 24-5 run to take control of the ball game. Zapolnik, Irwin, and Marbury were the spark plugs on offense while big defensive plays from Perusek and Styers only helped build the momentum. 

Franciscan pushed the lead back within eight, but the Streaks never faulted and continued to attack aggressively on both sides of the ball. Another Marbury triple pushed the lead back up to 14. 

Zapolnik continued to have his way getting to the line multiple times as the lead reached a game-high 17 points.

After a short push from the opposing side, another Zapolnik layup had John Carroll up 15 with a little over three minutes left as Franciscan seemed to wave the white flag, emptying their bench. 

The lead didn't change much from there, as Peyton Budrys-Rini drilled one from deep to close out the scoring as John Carroll finished out a 16-point victory.

The Blue Streaks now move to 9-1 in season openers under the direction of Pete Moran. 

Jack Zapolnik lead the way with a career high 29 points shooting 10-for-14 from the field along the way

"We're just best friends having a good time, everything is easier when I am surrounded by the people I trust," said Zapolnik about his career night. 

Kyle Irwin followed up with a career-high 20 points to go along with 8 rebounds

"I just want to shout out the guys for gritting their way through game #1," said Irwin, "It's not easy making these trips in the small vans the same day of games, but these guys still played a gritty physical game … loved seeing a guy like Peyton bury one at the end of the game to top it off."

As a team, the Blue Streaks shot 61% (33-54) from the field and 50% (12-24) from beyond the arc.

Next Up
John Carroll will play the winner between Pitt-Bradford and Houghton on Saturday at 2 pm. 
 
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