John Carroll began its 2009-2010 campaign with a 250-mile road trip to Olivet, Michigan, and passed a stern test to post a 90-83 win over the Comets in the season opener for both squads.

Box Score

The Blue Streaks, ranked #2 in the nation by D3hoops.com and the preseason favorites to win the Ohio Athletic Conference, squared off with Olivet College, picked to finish third in the highly regarded Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. While JCU led most of the way, it was rarely a comfortable margin.

John Carroll started out with a Tommy Lavelle lay-up and two three-pointers by Corey Shontz to build an 8-2 lead, only to have the Comets break off a 10-0 run and take a 12-8 lead.

The Streaks bounced back to a 12-2 run fueled by three pointers from Brian Dandrea, Joey Meyer and Shontz to go ahead 20-14 with 11:36 left in the opening half.

A Blake Blannick lay-up with just under ten minutes to play tied the score at 20-20, but that would be the final time the score was deadlocked. Nine straight points by JCU ignited a 19-6 run that gave the Blue Streaks it largest lead of the opening half at 39-26 with 4:36 remaining. 

JCU would take a 45-35 lead into the break.

Olivet would cut to the John Carroll advantage to six points on a Nathan Jennings jumper at the 17:06 mark that made the score 51-45. But just as quickly as the lead was chopped, the Blue Streaks would grow it again. When Shontz completed a traditional three-point play with 13:27 showing on the second half clock, JCU would hold its largest lead of the game at 65-49.

Although Olivet never seriously threatened, JCU could not pull away. Michael McClary made a lay-up with 1;14 left to pull the Comets to within seven points at 87-80, but Matt Crozier answeed with a lay-up of his own with 46 second to play to keep the contest at three possessions the rest of the way.

John Carroll (1-0) was led by a career-high 28 points from Shontz, whose line included 9-13 shooting from the field, 6-7 from three-point range, and 4-5 from the free throw line. Meyer, Rudy Kirbus and Maurice Haynes each chipped in 12 points as the Blue Streaks shot 11-18 (.611) from three-point range and 27-34 (.794) from the free throw line for the game.

Olivet (0-1) was paced by McClary, who produced 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. The Comets were hampered by a 4-21 effort from beyond the arc.