John Carroll JCU 22-2,16-1 OAC

Otterbein OTT 17-7,11-6 OAC

John Carroll JCU

22-2,16-1 OAC

Final

Feb. 14, 2024

Otterbein OTT

17-7,11-6 OAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
John Carroll JCU	36	38	74
Otterbein OTT	39	39	78

Summary
Box Score

Otterbein Sports Information

The Blue Streaks got out to a slow start, but fought back in it only to fall short in the end.

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/14/2024 9:46:00 PM | Deuce Zak, Senior Staff Writer

Men's Basketball Loses First Conference Contest of the Campaign at Otterbein

WESTERVILLE -- The Ohio Athletic Conference is one of the premier conferences in Division III men's basketball, with tough competition from top to bottom. This fact was proven tonight, as the Blue Streaks made the two-hour trip to Westerville to take on the Cardinals of Otterbein.

The No. 1 team in the nation found themselves in an uncharacteristic early hole, and could never quite climb out of it, falling in their final road contest of conference play, 78-74.

The Blue and Gold found themselves in uncharted territory in the opening frame. The Cardinals came out with red hot shooting, constantly putting pressure on the Streaks, forcing an early timeout with a quick 9-2 run to open the contest.

The visitors managed to battle back, starting to get some shots to fall from Henry Raynor and Luka Eller. Unfortunately, made baskets were hard to come by in the early going. The Cardinals' effective shooting kept the Blue Streaks at bay, with the lead getting to double digits at 23-13 and staying there for several minutes.

The Blue Streaks were forced to call another timeout at the 8:30 mark down 29-16, but from that point on, JCU outscored the home squad 20-10, managing to find their groove again. Luke Chicone and Luke Frazier started to get going, and the defensive intensity rose with every stop and subsequent score.

It was not easy, but the Streaks managed to have a possession to get to within one or tie at the end of the half, ultimately coming up short to go into the locker room down 39-36, a huge improvement from the struggles that plagued most of the first half.

The Blue Streaks shot 50% from the field in the first despite the slow start, managing to get to the rim frequently at the end of the half. Luke Frazier paced the team with 11 in the half.

The second half carried much the same tune. The home squad opened with another small run to push the 3-point lead back out to seven, but the Blue Streaks quickly responded to close the gap once again.

This pattern would repeat itself over and over again throughout the half, with the visitors never quite able to get over the hump and flip the game.

As the half wound down, both teams would take turns going on mini runs, with the Cardinals able to extend their lead to seven or eight, but each time the Blue and Gold battled back to within one or two. The Blue Streaks had a multitude of opportunities to wrest control of the game from the Cardinals in crunch time, but shots did not fall and the ball did not roll the Blue Streaks' way.

After a series of crazy possessions where loose balls fluttered around the floor and the Streaks had opportunities to even the game, they came up short, falling to the Cardinals 78-74.

The Luke's lead the team in scoring with 18 points for Chicone and 17 for Frazier. Will Yontek and David Gentry both provided strong efforts off the bench with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Blue Streaks shot a lackluster 42% from the field on the evening, struggling to get it going from 3-point range.

The Blue Streaks will look to bounce back in their final OAC contest of the season this Saturday for Senior/Graduate Day, where they will honor four seniors/graduate students on their squad.

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