UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team was defeated by Ohio Athletic Conference and cross-town rival John Carroll University, 77-62, in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

BW (8-8, 3-6 OAC) was led by senior guard Zack Brandy (Hudson) and sophomore guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) as they each scored 15 points. Brandy went three-for-three from beyond the arc and Battle was a perfect six-for-six from the foul line.

John Carroll (10-5, 7-2 OAC) had three players score in double-figures led by senior All-OAC forward Simon Kucharewicz as he scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior All-OAC guard Danny Linane, Jr. added 14 points and senior All-OAC forward Doug Caputo contributed 12 points.

In a back and forth first seven minutes of play, the Yellow Jackets gained its first lead when freshman forward Alex Nahra (Mayfield) made the traditional three-point play at the 13:47 mark to make the score 11-10. BW led the remainder of the first half and had its largest lead when Brandy made a three-pointer to make the score 29-18 with 7:10 left in the half. The Blue Streaks outscored the Yellow Jackets 15-11 in the final seven minutes to cut the BW lead to 40-33 at intermission.

John Carroll opened the second half with a 17-8 run capped off  by a fast break layup by junior forward John Cirillo  that gave the Blue Streaks a 50-48 lead at the 12:03 mark.  The Yellow Jackets regained the lead when sophomore guard Kyle Nader (Vermilion) made a three-pointer to make the score 53-52 at 10:12. John Carroll went on a 25-9 run to close out the game. Senior forward Ben Chase (Bay Village/Bay) scored the final basket for BW with 39 seconds remaining.  

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Saturday, January 12 when they host Muskingum University in game two of an OAC men's and women's doubleheader in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 4 p.m.