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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Aidan Fitzgerald and Sean Collins
Sam Herr
73
Oberlin Ober 13-13,6-10 NCAC
77
Winner John Carroll JCU 20-6,11-5 NCAC
Oberlin Ober
13-13,6-10 NCAC
73
Final
77
John Carroll JCU
20-6,11-5 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Oberlin Ober 32 41 73
John Carroll JCU 41 36 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Ginley '16, SID

Men's Basketball Turns Away Oberlin in NCAC Tournament Quarterfinal

The Blue Streaks fought off a spirited Oberlin team thanks to a clutch shot with 36 seconds left

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – It was a bit close for comfort, but John Carroll Men's Basketball fought off Oberlin College.

In the quarterfinal round of the team's first North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, the #3 seed Blue Streaks started strong in the first half before the Yeomen caught fire from 3-point range. The stretch run was a battle.

But thanks to a critical late 3-pointer, John Carroll survived the scare for a 77-73 victory in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

JCU will advance to the semifinal round on Friday. The win also advances the Blue Streaks to 20-6 overall on the season, marking the first time in program history that the Blue & Gold have notched 20 victories in four straight seasons, as well as the 17th time in the 106 seasons of program history hitting the milestone. 

The Yeomen hit a pair of triples in the early going to establish the fact that the visitors were not ready to go without a fight. While JCU started cold shooting from downtown, Luke Chicone got hot early. The graduate student scored 10 of JCU's first 18 points. A Kyle Irwin triple with 6:29 left to play upped the JCU lead to 23-16, so Oberlin called a 30-second timeout to slow the tempo. 

The teams traded jabs, but John Carroll could not pull away much despite some nice free throw shooting. The Blue Streaks stood ahead at halftime, 41-32. 

The Yeomen fired out of halftime with a pair of key triples. Oberlin could not miss it seemed, and quickly tied it at 46-all just five minutes into the half. Another Oberlin triple grabbed a short-lived lead for the Yeomen. 

The hosts took a pair of small leads, but the Yeomen kept finding answers, continuing to hit looks from downtown. An and-one just past the midpoint of the half gave the momentum to Oberlin, as the Yeomen held the lead for the next four minutes. 

The teams traded jabs over the next few minutes, with Chicone getting help from Justin Chapman and Brandon Rose. A Mike Lamirand 3-pointer upped the JCU lead to 74-70 with 2:18 to play. A minute later, Oberlin responded with a triple to make it a one-point game.

Following a timeout at the 1:06 mark,Lamirand found Aidan Fitzgerald on a wing triple right before the shot clock expired with 36.6 seconds left in the game. Initially not a basket, replay review ruled that the shot got off before a whistle and the end of the shot clock. 

The critical Fitzgerald triple stood as the final points, as the Yeomen couldn't respond on a pair of possessions. 

Luke Chicone put on a show like usual in perhaps his final game in the DeCarlo Center. The Mentor native led all scorers with 23 points plus 4 steals. Brandon Rose chipped in 12 points, with Kyle Irwin notching 11 points. Mike Lamirand made big plays with 9 points and a team-best 8 rebounds. 

Next Up
The Blue Streaks will head to Granville on Friday. JCU will play #2 seed DePauw University (18-7, 11-5 NCAC) on Friday at 5 pm. John Carrol and DePauw split the regular season series, as JCU won in Indiana on January 3, 93-83, while DePauw took the matchup in University Heights on January 31, 68-64.  
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