No. 14 John Carroll pulls away late for 68-57 victory over Men's Basketball

By Tim Glon

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — Senior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored a team-high 14 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in a 68-57 loss to No. 14-ranked John Carroll on Saturday at the DeCarlo Center.

The Polar Bears fall to 6-7 overall and are 2-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Blue Streaks improve to 11-2, 5-1.

Freshman Will Miller (Ottoville) nailed a 3-pointer with 6:58 left in the game to tie the contest at 53-all.

But JCU would score the next eight points and finish the game on a 15-4 run to hold off Ohio Northern.

Senior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) scored with 2:40 left to get ONU back within 63-57 and Napier got a basket with 1:17 to go to make it 63-57.

The Blue Streaks would then make 5-of-6 free throws in the final 57 seconds to ice the game.

Scott and Miller each added 10 points for Northern.

John Carroll was led by Luke Frazier with a game-high 19 points.

Neither team led by more than six points at any time ion the first 25 minutes until JCU grabbed a 48-41 lead with 14:43 left in the game.

Northern would respond with a 12-5 run over the next 5: to tie the game at 53-all.

Ohio Northern made 24-of-62 field goals for 38.7 percent and made 6-of-23 from 3-point range for 26.1 percent while John Carroll made 26-of-54 field goals for 48.1 percent and was 1-of-9 from beyond the arc for 11.1 percent.

ONU was 3-of-5 from the free-throw line for 60.0 percent, and JCU was 15-of-21 for 71.4 percent.

John Carroll out-rebounded Ohio Northern by a slim 30-29 margin.

The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday with a road game at Baldwin Wallace.