A three-point play by Maurice Haynes in the first half tied the game at 25-25, wiping out an 18-5 start by Mount Union
box score
John Carroll weathered a strong start out of the gate by host Mount Union to post a 93-84 victory over the Purple Raiders in an Ohio Athletic Conference match-up staged Wednesday evening at the Timken Gymnasium in Alliance, Ohio.
Mount Union scored the first seven points and held an 18-5 lead with 13:46 showing on the first half clock before the Blue Streaks began the long climb back.
Five minutes later, a three-point play by freshman Maurice Haynes tied the contest at 25-25, and then a steal by Tony DeMichele that led to a dunk by Jason Thompson would give JCU a 27-25 lead with 7:58 remaining in the opening period.
The score was tied at 31-31 with just under five minutes to play when the Blue Streaks would close the half on a 12-6 run to take a 43-37 advantage into the locker room.
For the first nine minutes of the second half, the margin would bounce between zero to seven points with the Blue Streaks never fully relinquishing the lead.
Shortly after Dave Pellerite had pulled Mount Union to within 62-60 at the 11:07 mark, John Carroll would embark on the game's most significant run. Bookended by three-pointers from junior Donte Ledwell, the Blue Streaks would score 20 of the next 27 points over a seven-minute stretch to open up an 82-67 advantage.
The closest Mount Union would get the rest of the way was when Sam King hit a three-point field goal in the final 30 seconds to complete the scoring.
John Carroll (4-4, 2-2 OAC) was led by 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds from All-American candidate Terry Walsh, who was 8-12 from the field, 3-5 from three-point range, and 8-9 from the free throw line. Walsh, who posted his first career triple-double, was one of five Blue Streaks in double figures along with 14 from Haynes, 13 from Derek Smith (who surpassed the 500 career points plateau with this effort), 11 from Ledwell (a career high) and 10 from Rudy Kirbus (who also had 10 rebounds to complete his first career double-double).
The Blue Streaks shot 31-51 (.608) from the field, 7-9 (.778) from three-point range, and 24-34 (.706) from the charity stripe in snapping their two-game losing streak.
Mount Union (2-6, 0-4 OAC) was paced by 25 points from King, who was 11-15 from the field. Pellerite chipped in 16 points as the Purple Raiders dropped their fourth in a row
