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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Shot through the heart… and Cards to blame!

Marking the biggest program win since the 2002 national championship game, Otterbein never trailed Wednesday night en route to stunning the top-ranked team in all of NCAA Division III in front of a dedicated home crowd in the Rike Center.

The Cardinals started strong, held off multiple counterpunches from Goliath along the way, and wound up standing on top of No. 1-ranked John Carroll in a magical 78-74 final.

A surging Otterbein team has now won seven of its last eight games (improving to 11-3 at home this season) while delivering JCU its first loss in Ohio Athletic Conference play this year. John Carroll now sits 22-2 overall and 16-1 in the league after recently clinching the regular-season title.

The Cards (17-7, 11-6 OAC) now also move into a second-place deadlock with Mount Union in the standings after the Raiders dropped another game. The two teams will play this weekend for outright second and a bye in the upcoming postseason bracket.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• An Otterbein team lacking no fear jumped ahead from the get-go for leads of 9-2, 25-12 and 29-16 into the latter part of the first half. The Cards were ahead by double digits for nearly seven minutes in the span.
   
• John Carroll, playing without starter and third-leading scorer Chase Toppin, found a new gear and threw its best punch to culminate the first half. The Streaks ripped off 20 points in under eight minutes leading to the break, as Otterbein hung on (as best it could) for a 39-36 lead by intermission.
   
• The second half remained a 1-2 possession battle nearly the entire way, with the Cards stretching their largest leads of seven a few different times. JCU found another groove midway through the period to force ties at 57, 59 and 61.
   
• Otterbein responded on a critical 7-0 run from that point to show it wasn't going anywhere. But JCU clawed back within a bucket on multiple occasions and only trailed 75-73 with just over a minute left…
   
• In a game full of high-level makes, the biggest shot perhaps came from star Jack Clement (who did not play in the first meeting at JCU earlier this season) with 46 seconds left on the clock. He briefly backed down 6-foot-7 Luke Frazier before nailing a pure, fadeaway jumper from the left elbow that pushed the home side back up by four.
   
• Chaos then ensued after JCU split a pair of free throws to make it 77-74. Otterbein turned the ball over coming out of a timeout, but the Streaks lost it right back. Julian Heckman corralled the loose ball, was fouled, and made his second attempt at the charity stripe to put the game out of reach.
   
• A heave from John Carroll missed on the other end, and a dunk attempt by MJ Davis (while not beating the buzzer) erupted the student section onto the court.

STATS THAT MATTERED:

• Otterbein's two-headed monster of Cam Evans (24) and Clement (19) combined for another 43 and 13 rebounds… on a 15 of 29 mark from the field. Troy Scowden and Heckman also reached double figures with some very timely buckets.
   
• Frazier and fellow All-American Luke Chicone both scored about their average in combining for 35 points on the JCU side, with Frazier grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. They both played all but one minute.
   
• Otterbein, ranked top-five nationally in offensive efficiency, proved why yet again in shooting 53% from the floor and 88% from the free-throw line. JCU was a modest 42% on the other end.
   
• John Carroll committed just two turnovers all night and finished with a 21-8 edge in bench scoring.

SATURDAY SHOWDOWN:

Tip from Alliance against Mount Union will come Saturday at 1 p.m. Otterbein will be looking to get even with the Raiders after a competitive loss (79-69) earlier this season in Westerville.