UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio –The fourth-seeded Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team was defeated by top-seeded and crosstown rival John Carroll University in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal game by a final score of 93-72 on Mike Moran Court inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.
BW (18-9), who is now 1-2 all-time in the post-season series in University Heights, will now have to wait to see if it will get an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III National Tournament that is announced on Monday, February 26 at 12:30 p.m. John Carroll (22-5), who is now 4-1 in the all-time post-season series, will host the OAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday, February 24 against third-seeded Ohio Northern University at 7:30 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets had four players score in double figures led by senior All-OAC guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion) as he scored 17 points. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) chipped in 15 points. Senior All-OAC forward Jake Fetherolf (Norwalk) as he recorded his 12th double-double of the season and the 30th of his career with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Michael Quiring (Brunswick) added 11 points.
With his 17 points, Kuhn moved into fourth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,881 career-points.
With his 15 points, Battle became the 42nd player in school history to amass 1,000 career points as he now has 1,001 points.
The Blue Streaks, who are appearing in their eighth OAC Tournament Championship game and its third in the last five seasons, had three players score in double digits led by senior guard/forward Matthew Csuhran as he scored a game-high 24 points. Sophomore guard Ryan Berger poured in 20 points. Sophomore guard Jimmy Berger contributed 13 points.
John Carroll jumped out to a 15-0 lead when junior forward/center Allen Stokes scored on a layup at the 15:28 mark. BW got its first points of the first half on a layup by Kuhn at 14:59 mark. The Blue Streaks answered with a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 25-2 when Csuhran knocked down a pair of free throws at the 13:27 mark. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to 32-16 when Quiring knocked down a jumper at 8:16. John Carroll responded with an 13-6 run to push the lead to 45-22 on jumper by senior guard Antonio Vuyancih at 3:11. BW closed the opening half on a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to 47-28 when Battle split a pair from the charity stripe with 1:09 left.
The Blue Streaks opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take a 55-31 on a layup by Jimmy Berger at the 16:43 mark. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 6-3 run to cut the lead down to 58-37 on a jumper by junior guard Kyle Nader (Vermilion) at 13:25. John Carroll answered with a 15-6 run to extend its lead to 74-43 on a three-pointer by Ryan Berger at the 10:25 mark. BW fought back with a 14-2 run to cut the lead down to 76-57 on a jumper by Kuhn at 7:32. The Blue Streaks pushed their lead to 87-68 on a jumper by Jimmy Berger at the 3:12 mark. John Carroll outscored the Yellow Jackets, 5-4, down the stretch to secure the win.
