JCU knocked from ranks of unbeaten

Baldw in Wallace f reshman guard Jay Battle said he and his t eammates believed they were good enough to beat thirdranked and previously unbeaten John Carroll on the Blue Streaks’ home floor. They were. Battle calmly sank t wo f ree throws with 3.8 seconds remaining to propel the Yellow Jackets to a 79-78 victor y in a rivalr y game f iercely contested f rom the opening tip until JCU junior point guard David Linane’s running 15-foot jumper bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

The Blue Streaks slipped to 21-1 overall and 14-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. JCU had won 27 straight OAC regular- season games.

Erasing a five-point deficit in the final 2:30 of the second half, BW improved to 13-9 overall and 8-7 in the OAC.

“This is huge,” Battle said. “We came in not paying attention to records and knowing no one is unbeatable in this league.”

Junior forward Zach Warner finished with a career-high 19 points for the Yellow Jackets, whose third straight victor y was by far their most satisfying of the season.

“We just beat one of the best teams in Division III, a well- coached team that plays really hard. It’s obviously a big one for us,” BW coach Tom Heil said.

JCU coach Mike Moran was exceedingly gracious in the wake of a loss all the tougher to swallow given his team’s failure to hold the late lead.

“It was an emotional game,” Moran said. “Tom ( Heil) did a nice job getting his team prepared. It’s a buzzsaw in this league.”

Linane finished with a game-high 21 points for the Blue Streaks. Senior center Simon Kucharewicz had 14

points. Sophomore forward John Cirillo ( Notre DameCathedral Latin) netted 12 points. His tip-in of a Linane miss with 22.3 seconds remaining gave JCU its last lead at 78-77.

Freshman g uard Cameron Kuhn ( Vermilion) and sophomore for ward Jake Fetherof f ( Nor walk) each scored 12 points for the Yellow Jackets, who were 12-of28 from 3-point range. The Blue Streaks were 5- of-15 from behind the arc.

“They ’re an exceptionally good perimeter-shooting team and proved that tonight,” Moran said.

BW shot 46.2 percent f rom the field, while JCU shot 45.9 percent in a backand-forth contest that produced nine lead changes and 10 ties.

The Blue Streaks took an early 8-2 lead, only to have BW answer with a 13 - 0 run to move ahead, 15-8, at the 14:30 mark. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead t o 25-15 with eight min- utes remaining on two baskets by Kuhn in a 27- second span.

JCU rallied with an 18- 4 r un to t ake a 33-29 lead with 3:36 remaining. BW closed strong in the half, taking a 39-35 lead at halftime. Linane had 10 points in the first half for the Blue Streaks. Featherhoff topped a balanced attack for BW with eight points.

Looming next for the Blue Streaks on Feb. 13 is a crucial road game against eighth-ranked Marietta, now tied for first place in the OAC at 14 -1 and 20-2 overall.

CHRISTINE GAAB - JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY John Carroll’s Simon Kucharewicz eyes the basket during Baldwin Wallace’s 79-78 victory over the Blue Streaks on Feb. 10 in University Heights.