UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio –The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team came up short as it fell to No. 24-nationally ranked, crosstown rival and Ohio Athletic Conference leader John Carroll University in OAC game by a final score of 77-70 on Mike Moran Court inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.
BW (15-7, 9-6 OAC) has now split the season series in five of the last eight seasons, including sweeping the series in 2012-13. The Yellow Jackets had four players score in double figures led by junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) as he scored a game-high tying 16 points. Sophomore forward Tyler Colombo (Strasburg/Tuscarawas Central Catholic) scored a career-high 12 points. Senior All-OAC guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion) chipped in 11 points and junior guard Kyle Nader (Vermilion) scored a season-high tying 10 points. In addition, sophomore forward Drew Sova (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds
John Carroll (18-4, 12-3 OAC), who remained undefeated at home this season at 9-0, has now won eight of the last 10 meetings in the series at home and has posted victories in 13 of the last 20 games in the rivalry. The Blue Streaks had three players score in double digits led by sophomore guard Ryan Berger as he scored a game-high tying 16 points. Senior guard Antonio Vuyancih recorded a double-double as he scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Matthew Csuhran contributed 12 points.
BW jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and pushed it to 12-2 on a layup by Colombo at the 14:04 mark. The Yellow Jackets went up 20-8 when senior forward Mike Kaminski (Medina) knocked down a three-pointer at 10:19. John Carroll cut the lead down 25-21 when senior guard/forward Matthew Csuhran hit a jumper at the 4:37 mark. BW responded with a 6-2 run to push the lead to 31-23 when Kuhn knocked down a pair from the charity stripe at 3:27. The Blue Streaks closed out the half on a 6-2 run but trailed 33-29 at the half. John Carroll had three-pointer fall off the rim as time expired.
The Blue Streaks opened the second half on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 33-33 on a layup by junior forward/center Allen Stokes at the 18:53 mark. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 7-2 run to take 40-35 lead on triple from Battle at 15:40. John Carroll tied the game for the second time at 44-44 on a layup by Ryan Berger at the 12:44 mark. The game would be tied two more times with the last coming (49-49) at 9:33. The Blue Streaks then went on a 16-4 run to take a 65-53 lead on a layup by sophomore guard Jimmy Berger at the 4:25 mark. BW cut the lead down 74-70 when Kuhn split a pair of foul shots with 21 seconds remaining. John Carroll scored the final points as sophomore guard Sean Flannery hit three of four foul shots with the last two coming with three seconds remaining.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Saturday, February 10 when they host an OAC game against Capital University on Al Sirat Grotto Day in the Ursprung Gymnasium at 3 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action live at http://www.bwyellowjackets.com/x/09r2b or watch all of the action live at http://www.bwyellowjackets.com/x/bekb0
The 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday, February 21. The semifinals will be played on Thursday, February 22 on the campuses of the highest remaining seeds. The championship game will be contested on Saturday, February 24 on the campus of the highest remaining seeds. Please visit www.bwyellowjackets.com for exact game times.
