WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team and John Carroll University (JCU) played the first 37-plus minutes in a 10-point window, but the Blue Streaks went on a 6-0 run with the game tied down the stretch to earn a 78-72 victory in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament on Monday evening.
In what proved to be an incredibly close game throughout, neither team led by more than five points for the majority of the contest. JCU would take its five-point advantage at 29-24 and 32-27 with about six minutes to play in the first half, but Wilmington battled back to take a three-point lead on a pair of Noah Dado free throws with 30 seconds to play. A David Gentry layup sent both teams into halftime with the hosts up 42-41.
Early on in the second half, it was the Fightin' Quakers' turn to take a five-point advantage (48-43) as Collmann Aaron connected on a triple with 17:35 to play. The Blue Streak flipped the script, however, as a 13-3 run capped by a PJ Flannery triple put JCU up 59-54. Wilmington battled back to tie it several minutes later, and neither team led by more than a possession. A Jeffery Mansfield free throw tied the game 66-66 with 6:37 to play, but the hosts got stuck on that number a little too long. JCU scored six unanswered points over the next five minutes, and that would be enough to escape Hermann Court with a road win in the postseason.
Both teams shot over 45 percent from the field with the Blue Streaks making three more baskets and three more triples while Wilmington went 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line compared to a 15-of-18 performance (83.3 percent) from the visitors.
Individually, both Mansfield and Dado turned in double-doubles with Mansfield leading the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds. The Wilmington High School alumnus missed a triple double by a single assist with nine with Dado had 18 points and 10 boards. Flannery was one of five Blue Streaks - alongside Connor O'Toole, Jackson Sartain, Omar Abuhamdeh and Gentry - to score in double figures with a team-high 19 points.
With the win, John Carroll, seeded No. 10, will move on to face the University of Mount Union, seeded No. 2, in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals. Wilmington, which was seeded No. 7, concludes its season with a 6-19 overall record.
