The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
John Carroll men’s hoops rout Muskingum
John Carroll hit their numbers, and then some, in a 115-74 victory over Muskingum C4
Senior forward Matt Csuhran and John Carroll hit their numbers, and then some, in a 115-74 victory over Muskingum on Dec. 2 at DeCarlo Varsity Center.
The Blue Streaks came into the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both teams averaging 113.5 points while giving up 83.5 points.
Csuhran finished with a game-high 25 points, 17 in the second half, as the Blue Streaks raced to an 18-2 lead after six minutes. They never looked back en route to their fifth straight victory under first-year coach Pete Moran.
Moran is off to an auspicious start as the successor to his father, Mike Moran. The elder Moran retired earlier this year after
25 years at the helm of the Division III program.
“If the guys continue to play at this level, they have a chance to be a special group,” Pete Moran said.
The younger Moran is especially pleased to be off to a 1-0 start in the OAC.
“Games in our conference are different than nonconference because everybody knows each other so well,” Moran said.
Csuhran came in averaging a team-high 19.5 points. He also had nine rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots on his stats line.
“Matt is in the gym every day, working on his craft,” Moran said of Csuhran. “He started the season ready to be more of a focal point of the offense.”
The 6-foot-5 former Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School standout comes off the bench for his new coach, who is using the same five-in, five-out substitution pattern as his predecessor. Csuhran did his scoring in 13 minutes as 10 Blue Streaks logged double-figure minutes in the wire-to-wire win.
“It’s basically the same,” Csuhran said when asked to compare the in-game coaching styles of the two Morans. “There’s more of a young feeling with Pete. It’s fun playing for him.”
Junior center Allen Stokes turned in an especially stout effort with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Nine of the rebounds came on the offensive end as JCU piled up 44 second-chance points to just seven for the Fighting Muskies.
Senior forward John Cirrillo (Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) finished with 18 points. JCU also got doublefigure scoring performance from senior guard Tony Vuyancih (15) and sophomore guard Ryan Berger (10).
Junior guard Devon Peart scored a team-high 15 points for Muskingum (1-4, 0-1 OAC).
JCU next plays Dec. 6 at Mount Union.