Box Score WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's basketball team didn't quite have the juice to slay undefeated John Carroll University Wednesday evening in the Rike Center, eventually falling 94-80 in what was a back-and-forth Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup.
John Carroll, ranked No. 7 in the latest national poll, stayed perfect in running its record to 14-0 overall and 7-0 against the conference. Otterbein, meanwhile, drops to 3-11 on the season and 1-6 within league play.
John Carroll opened the game on a terror, connecting on four early three-pointers to blitz the Cardinals and take a 20-6 lead. Otterbein settled in from there, going on a 16-5 run out of a timeout to close back within a possession, 25-22, with 10:23 remaining in the first half.
The Cardinals exchanged scores with a fast-paced JCU team over the next eight minutes, trailing by just five with 3:33 to play in the half before the Blue Streaks finished the period on an 11-5 spurt, good enough for a 45-34 advantage at intermission.
The Streaks scored 10 of the first 15 points to begin the second half, but Otterbein answered right back again with a 10-0 run to close back within six at the 15:00 mark. JCU promptly ran its lead back into double figures and then to as many as 18 midway through the half, but Otterbein wasn't going anywhere just yet and cut the deficit back to 10 in less than two minutes.
John Carroll ultimately packed a final punch that Otterbein would not recover from, using a 10-2 run to open an 18-point lead down the stretch en route to the win.
Junior
Grant Fenner tallied a double-double effort for the Cards, going for game-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds despite the loss.
Jake Phillis added 15 points,
Bryan Mackenzie had 13 and
Matt Hughes chipped in 11 for an Otterbein group that went just 7 of 24 from three-point range compared to John Carroll's 14 of 30 output.
Seven different players reached double figures in scoring for JCU, which landed exactly on its average of 94 points per game coming in. Antonio Vuyancih led the way with 16 points in just 19 minutes of action. Leading scorer David Linane was held to just two points on 0 for 8 shooting.
The John Carroll bench scored a blistering 49 points and had a 27-12 edge in points off turnovers.
Otterbein will face another stiff test to end the week, traveling to take on 10th-ranked Marietta College come Saturday at 3 p.m.
