JCU men to face Mount Union in OAC title game

The John Carroll men’s basketball team is one victory from earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Blue Streaks built a big lead at Marietta on Feb. 27, then hung on for an 86-79 victory in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal round.

The win puts JCU (19-8) in the OAC championship game against host Mount Union (24-3) on Feb. 29. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

“The staff and I couldn’t

be more of our guys and they effort they gave,” JCU coach Pete Moran told The News-Herald. “We challenged our men to give a championship level effort in everything they did, and they certainly responded.”

The game looked like it might be a runaway for the Blue Streaks, as they led, 54-36, at the game’s first 20 minutes. Then a few minutes into the second half, they took that lead to 61-35. Marietta, however, proved to be a tough out. It went on a huge run to close the gap to 70-65 with 7 minutes, 34 seconds remaining.

From there, the visitors maintained the lead and hung on for the win.

Two free throws by Ryan Berger, a Luke Hippler layup and a jumper in the paint by Berger pushed the lead to 76-65 at the 5:46 mark.

Marietta’s 6-0 run of its own made it a four-point game with 2:32 remaining. Four straight free throws by Berger all but clinched the victory with 1:14 remaining. Berger was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line, and JCU made 18 of 22 as a team.

“We were able to weather the storm in the second half because of our senior leadership and knocking down some clutch free throws,” said Moran.

Berger’s late-game heroics finished off a huge night for the first-team All-OAC selection. He scored a teamhigh 21 points with six rebounds and three assists.

Jackson Sartain had 18 points and Patrick Flannery added 14. Each player connected on four 3-pointers. Jimmy Berger scored 11 points with four assists and point guard Sean Flannery had seven points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Marietta had five players in double figures, including the game’s leading scorer Lukas Isaly, who had 22 points.

JCU lost both games in the regular season to Mount, which defeated Baldwin Wallace in the other OAC semifinal Feb. 27. The Purple Raiders won the first meeting with JCU on Dec. 4 at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, 96-79, then by a score of 88-85 on the road Jan. 29.