Photo by Jay W. Trying to keep pace in the OAC standings to finish in the top six and earn a berth into the tournament, the Pioneers , snapped a three-game slide as the Blue Streaks , held the lead for just 15 seconds in the first half. We knew John Carroll would come back and fight. We needed a win.
This has got to be some positive momentum moving forward for us. Jack Main, who had six rebounds along with teammate Jake Singleton, finished with 13 points.
He also had a pair of steals along with Pioneers Jayden Bradshaw and Darius Carden, who had a team-high four assists. This is what we do as a team. We come together and we knew we were capable of doing something like this. We just put it all together today for 40 minutes. The Pioneers, who took the lead for good at thanks to a Price 3 via a Landry Palata dime, had 14 assists on their 24 makes.
JCU, which received 12 points apiece from Henry Raynor, Will Yontek and Brandon Rose, only trailed with left in the half following a bucket by David Gentry, but the Pioneers were able to go up by 14 after getting a trifecta apiece from Main, Flood and Waganfeald. A Price skip pass that resulted in a Carden 3 with remaining had the Blue Streaks in a hole, but the visitors used a trio of triples from Rose to help start a rally. Following a putback by Yontek, who doubled-doubled thanks to a game-high 10 caroms, and a lay-in by Raynor the Blue Streaks of head coach Pete Moran were within two, , with 68 seconds to go.
However, Flood converted both ends of the 1-and-1 to make it a two-possession game with Although John Carroll owned a edge in the paint, the Pioneers had a narrow advantage in bench scoring and also held an edge on fastbreak points. Chase Toppin and Luke Frazier, who had a game-high five assists, scored nine points apiece in the setback.
