By Andrew Korba
Junior Branden Rushton led four players in double figure scoring, but the Ohio Northern men's basketball team lost a tough 78-75 contest to John Carroll on Saturday afternoon at the DeCarlo Center.
The Polar Bears are now 7-10 overall on the season and 3-7 in the OAC, while the Blue Streaks improve to 8-8, 5-5.
Rushton was 7-of-13 from the field and also had four rebounds.
Junior Jared Horstman scored 15 points, while senior Taylor Kuhlman and junior Dominique Royal had 12 points each.
Kenny Janz recorded a double-double for John Carroll with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
A layup by Royal gave the Polar Bears a 73-60 advantage with 4:56 left to play.
But the Blue Streaks stormed back with a 16-0 run to jump in front 76-73 with 20 second remaining.
Rushton was then fouled with six seconds left and sunk both free throws to cut the JCU lead to 76-75.
The Polar Bears were then forced to foul and Ryan Angers knocked down both free throws with five seconds left to push the Blue Streak lead back to 78-75.
Rushton's three to tie the game was off the mark, giving John Carroll the win.
The first half was very even, featuring five ties and four lead changes.
The Blue Streaks found themselves in front by a 21-19 score, but ONU got five quick points to jump in front 24-21.
JCU would use a 6-0 run to open up a 32-28 lead with 6:23 left in the first half.
But Northern came right back with a 12-0 run to grab a 40-32 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Rushton scored six points during the run, while sophomore Isaiah Roux, Horstman and Royal each added a hoop.
The Blue Streaks would then score the last four points of the half, giving ONU a 40-36 lead heading into the break.
The Polar Bears were 28-of-63 (44.4 percent) from the field, while John Carroll was 25-of-52 (48.1 percent).
ONU held a slight advantage in rebounding, winning the battle 34-32.
The Polar Bears also scored 22 points off of 12 JCU turnovers, while the Blue Streaks scored only six off of nine turnovers.
Ohio Northern will retun to action on Wednesday when they host Baldwin Wallace at 7:30 p.m.
