Wittenberg Falls In Double Overtime To John Carroll In NCAA Division III Tournament Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - For the second straight year, the John Carroll Blue Streaks invaded Wittenberg's HPER Center and came away with a victory. Unlike last year, which was the kind of track meet the high-powered Streaks prefer and ended up a 19-point JCU win, this was a double overtime thriller that finally tipped in the visitors' favor by a 75-68 final.

The win moved John Carroll, ranked 15th in the final regular season d3hoops.com poll, into the Round of 16 for the second straight year at the expense of the Tigers, who finished the year ranked No. 4. JCU, champions of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and runners-up in the OAC Tournament, heads into next weekend's sectional with a 24-5 overall record, while Wittenberg, second in the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and champions of the NCAC Tournament, rounds out the 2004-05 campaign with a mark of 25-4.

The pace of the 2005 clash favored the Tigers, a post-oriented, defensive-minded team that offers little full-court pressure and controls the boards better than almost any team in NCAA Division III. In spite of that, the Tigers never found an offensive rhythm, struggled at the free throw line and were beaten in the rebounding battle by the smaller but quicker Blue Streaks, especially in the second overtime.

The early part of the first half was a choppy, back-and-forth affair that put Wittenberg ahead 18-15 at the 9:16 mark. John Carroll then forced five Wittenberg turnovers in six possessions and went on a 9-0 run that spanned nearly seven minutes to take a six-point lead of its own. A layup by junior wing Kenny Brady pulled the Tigers to within 26-22 at halftime.

Wittenberg scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game and the Tigers held a slim lead for much of the final 20 minutes, only to see John Carroll work the clock in the closing seconds to force the game's sixth tie at 57-57. The biggest lead for either team throughout regulation was six points, an advantage Wittenberg held with 3:17 to go after a lay-up by junior post Dane Borchers. Wittenberg made 5-of-6 free throws in the last 50 seconds, but the Blue Streaks responded each time with a score of their own, the key ones being a three-pointer with 26 seconds left by Peter Koch and a lay-up with five seconds left by Pete Moran that forged the final tie.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game occurred at the outset of the first overtime period as NCAC Player of the Year Daniel Russ fouled out just seconds in. While he was ineffective much of the night with six points and six rebounds, his absence left the Tigers lacking a key offensive and defensive weapon in the two extra sessions, and it came back to haunt Wittenberg as JCU won the rebounding battle by a remarkable 15-9 margin in the final 10 minutes of action.

John Carroll led by as much as four in the first overtime, but the Tigers clamped down defensively to hold the Streaks scoreless in the final 3:18. After Brady tied it on a lay-up with 49 seconds left, the Tigers had three different opportunities off in-bounds plays in the final 24 seconds but nothing materialized for them offensively and the two teams went to a second OT.

Wittenberg, which lost three of its four games in 2004-05 in overtime, just seemed to run out of steam. John Carroll got three-pointers from Pete Moran and Michael Grogan in the second extra session to race out to an eight-point advantage, while Wittenberg had no answers, part of a 3-of-18 performance from three-point range.

John Carroll wound up with four players scoring in double figures, led by Moran with 14 and six assists. Brandon Mimes added 12 points and seven rebounds, Grogan finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and Andrew Salata came off the bench to chip in with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. The Blue Streaks shot 46 percent from the field, including a clutch 7-of-19 from long range, and they won the all-important rebounding battle 46-39, becoming just the third team all season to either keep pace with Wittenberg or hold a rebounding advantage at game's end. JCU also struggled with the free throw shooting, making just 14-of-27 on the night.

Wittenberg shot 39 percent from the field, a number markedly worse when Borchers and Brady, who combined for 16-of-26 shooting, are removed from the equation. While the Tigers handled the JCU pressure well, committing just 15 turnovers, they shot 17 percent from three-point range, 63 percent from the free throw line and were beaten on the boards. Borchers finished with a career-high 23 points, and he added eight rebounds and six steals. Brady capped his night with a career-high tying 20 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench before fouling out in the waning seconds.