Mar. 1—It wasn’t fairly but it surely was fairly easy for the John Carroll males’s basketball workforce.
It survived. It superior.
On March 1, the Blue Streaks opened the NCAA Division III event in opposition to SUNY New Paltz and led by 17 at one level within the second half earlier than they posted a 85-81 victory.
The win units up a matchup with Calvin, which defeated Elmhurst, 93-78, at JCU within the first recreation of the night time. Tip-off is 8:20 p.m., and the winner advances to the Spherical of 16.
Junior level guard Luke Chicone (Mentor) had an enormous recreation for JCU, and was clutch within the ultimate minute.
With the Blue Streaks up, 81-79, Chicone drove the lane because the clock shot was winding down and dished to an open Luke Eller (Lake Catholic), who laid the ball in with 22 seconds left.
Chicone to Eller, @JCUMensHoops leads 83-79 with 22 seconds remaining @jcusports @NHPreps pic.twitter.com/p3tRCysOmf
— Mark Podolski (@mpodo) March 2, 2024
Moments previous to Eller’s layup, Chicone made two free throws with just below a minute to play for a four-point benefit.
.@lukechicone steal and a couple of FTs places @JCUMensHoops up 81-77 with minute to play @jcusports pic.twitter.com/cFJidaJWC7
— Mark Podolski (@mpodo) March 2, 2024
Luke Frazier (Lake Catholic) then made two free throws with 13 seconds on the clock to basically seal the victory.
Chicone completed with 24 factors and 9 assists but in addition had assist from 5 different gamers in double-figure scoring. Will Yontek had 17 factors and 6 rebounds with Henry Raynor added 13 factors and eight boards.
Frazier had 10 factors however struggled capturing as he was 4 of 16 from the sphere however his two free throws have been clutch. Eller had 10 factors and 7 rebounds and Chase Toppin additionally scored 10.
JCU (25-2) led by as many as 17 factors within the second half in opposition to the Hawks (20-7), however New Paltz saved chipping away.
With lower than 10 minutes to play, a key second was when Chicone was fouled and made two free throws. However earlier than that, a technical foul was given to New Paltz coach Keith Kenney and Chicone made two extra free throws for a four-point journey. JCU’s slim 62-55 lead was all of the sudden 11.
Chicone then made a 3-pointer with 8 minutes remaining for a 69-57 lead. New Platz answered with two baskets to chop the result in 69-61 however Eller answered with a 12-footer to push the lead again to 10.
New Paltz had one other reply as A.J. Knight linked on a 3-pointer on the 6-minute mark to tug it with 71-64. Chicone answered once more with a layup off an inbounds play from Henry Raynor.
New Paltz hung round for many of the first half on hustle, scrapping for free balls and 4 3-pointers — regardless of capturing simply 38.7 p.c from the sphere within the first 20 minutes. New Paltz was additionally outrebounded 25-14.
Regardless of all of that, JCU led simply 32-29 with rather less than 3 minutes to play earlier than halftime. Then the Blue Streaks turned on its protection with stops and completed the opening half on a 10-0 run.
Eller began the run with a driving layup and Frazier adopted with one other driving layup. Free throws by Yontek and Eller pushed the benefit to 40-29 till Luke Chicone’s acrobatic layup within the ultimate seconds made it a 13-point benefit.
Chicone had an enormous first half with eight factors and 5 assists with Will Yontek main the best way with 11 factors.
New Paltz’s main scorers have been Kobe Bogart with 16 factors and A.J. Knight, who had 15.
THE SCORE
John Carroll 85, SUNY New Paltz 81