Any measure of revenge Mount Union sought regarding a drubbing they took earlier in the season at the hands of John Carroll may have to wait until next season.

But the Blue Streaks needed every ounce of energy to fend off the aenging efforts of the host Purple Raiders Wednesday night in Alliance. Corey Shontz scored a career-high 30 points to lead JCU to an 80-78 win and kept a foothold on second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference

Box Score

Mount Union, having won three of their last four games, were looking to climb up the OAC ladder but the Blue Streaks were intent on keeping the Raiders off their rung -- using a barrage of three-pointers to accomplish the feat. JCU nailed nine in the first half alone.

After Mike Hartnett (North Royalton, OH, Lakewood St. Edward)knocked down the fourth three-pointer of the contest at 17:20 to go,  the Blue Streaks were already ahead by a 14-5 count. 

“The fact that we are so unselfish on the floor is what makes this team so good. We all trust each other and no one really cares who scores,” said Shontz after the game. 

If the bombardment from three-point range wasn't enoughConor Tilow (Rocky River, OH, Lakewood St. Edward)silenced the crowd at 11:41 with his first slam dunk of the season. The jam ignited the Blue Streaks who ended the half on an 16-4 run and took a 44-28 advantage into the break.

“3-point shooting is huge for us," said John Carroll head coach Mike Moran. "When you don't have great size, you've got to have good shooters. We ran the floor well and shot very well from the outside,” 

As Galileo once said, however, what goes up must come down. Once again, the best three-point shooter in the country, Hartnett, made a three point basket to put John Carroll up by 21 to start the second half. 

The Purple Raiders refused to concede, however, and the second half proved to be a nail biter toward the end. 

With 6:41 in the game and John Carroll still clinging to a double digit lead at 69-59, Mount Union made one final run at the Blue Streaks. Although JCU never relinquished the lead, it would come down to an amazing final sequence. 

Following a Ben Hodkinson steal with less than 25 ticks on the clock, Mount Union had the ball down by two points. But the Raiders never got a shot off thanks to a clutch defensive play by Conor Sweeney, as the junior stole the ball from T.J. Gillespie and ran out the clock.

Winning on the road in the OAC is never easy as JCU found out. After holding Mount Union to 28 points in the first half, John Carroll surrendered 50 points. But John Carroll's head coach, who has over 200 regular season league victories to his credit, lent the proper perspective to Wednesday night's outcome.

“I'm just glad they didn't score 52 in the second half," stated Moran. 

Corey Shontz (Andover, OH, Pymatuning Valley)led John Carroll (12-5, 8-3 OAC) with 30 points, while Joey Meyer was creditted with13 points Hartnett tallied all his 12 points by virtue of the three ball. 

For Mount Union (8-10, 6-5 OAC), Gillespie and Jimmy Wood each had 15 points with Dave Pellerite leading the way with 22.