John Carroll Wins the OAC Tournament Championship |
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| John Carroll 2008-09 |
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Heroics
by a number of Blue Streaks in the final 73 seconds, most notably
Rudy
Kirbus (6'4''-F) of John Carroll University (Willoughby Hills, OH, Cleveland
St. Ignatius), carried John Carroll to a 90-87 victory over Capital University
in the championship game of the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball
Tournament Saturday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights,
Ohio.
With the victory, John Carroll earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA
Division III Championship, which begins next week. It is the third OAC
tournament title in the history of the JCU program, all of which have occured
since 2003.
'If heaven is half as good as this feeling, I can't wait to die,' quipped John
Carroll head coach
Mike
Moran . 'I've been saying all year long how great this team has been when it
comes to how they practice, how they play ... I am just very proud of them and
privileged to coach them. They earned this the old fashioned way by working for
it.'
Click here to watch the 2009 OAC Championship game in its entirety (Video
courtesy of Teamline and JCU Sports Information, Audio courtesy of WBWC-FM).
Capital had just pulled ahead, 85-84, on a DJ Frazier jumper with 90 seconds
left in regulation when Kirbus came up with the shot of the night. Taking a pass
from Brian Dandrea (Allison Park, PA, Hampton), Kirbus stroked a three-point
field goal from the right corner to put the Blue Streaks back on top, 87-85,
with 1:13 to play.
The Crusaders had chances at the other end, but a missed three-point answer and
two missed free throws put JCU back in the driver's seat.
Kirbus tried to put the game out of reach with another three try, but missed the
shot. he was able to grab the carom, however, and was fouled with 19 seconds
showing on the clock. He made both free throws for an 89-85 advantage.
The visiting Crusaders cut the lead to 89-87 on a pair of
Ryan
Wood (6'3''-F/G-87) of Capital University free throws with 11 ticks left,
and then fouled Michael Hartnett (North Royalton, OH, Lakewood St. Edward) with
eight seconds to play. Harnett made the first but missed the second.
Trailing 90-87,
Nate
Stahl (6'6''-F-87) of Capital University -- the reigning Most Valuable
Player in the OAC -- was able to get a clean three-point attempt off, but the
shot glanced off the iron and was rebounded as the buzzer sounded.
The Blue Streaks surround the 2009 OAC Tournament Championship trophyThe opening
14 minutes of the game offered scintillating offense as both teams were red hot
regardless of where the shot originated. When
Maurice Haynes (6'4''-F-88) II (Cleveland, OH, Villa Angela-St. Joseph) of
John Carroll drained a short jumper with 6:08 to play in the half, he put John
Carroll ahead, 35-34.
Capital then put together the first significant run of the game. Capped by a
Stahl three-pointer, the Crusaders would take a 44-37 advantage with 3:49 on the
clock.
The lead would surge to eight points for Capital when Ben McGrath scored on a
lay-up with 49 seconds left, but JCU would cut the lead down to six before the
half ended at 50-44 when Kirbus put back a missed three-pointer.
In the second half, John Carroll fired out of the gates. The Blue Streaks
outscored Capital, 27-12 over the first ten minutes of the period to take a
71-62 lead. Chris
Chris
Zajac (6'0''-G) 's (Brecksville, OH, Brecksville-Broadview Heights) lay-up
at the 10:08 mark gave the top-seeded Blue Streaks their largest lead of the
game.
The second-seeded Crusaders, however, would chip away and would catch John
Carroll on a Frazier three-pointer that knotted the contest at 77-77 with 6:07
on the clock.
JCU would not relinquish the lead until Frazier made a jumper with 90 seconds
yet to be played, setting Up the big shot by Kirbus.
John Carroll (23-4), which won its 19th consecutive game, made 33-56 (.589) from
the field for the game. Haynes led the Blue Streaks with 21 points, with Zajac
adding 14 and Kirbus contributing ten -- five of which were in those final 73
seconds.
Capital (24-4) was led by a game-high 22 points from Wood, who had three
teammates join him in double figures -- Frazier had 15, Adam Johns scored 13,
and Stahl added 10. The Crusaders, who lost in the OAC title game for the second
consecutive year, shot well from the field (27-51, .529) as well.
Courtesy of jcu sports
Tournament Final: John Carroll - Capital 90-87
Tournament Semifinals:
John Carroll - Muskingum 83-69
Capital - Ohio Northern 63-58
OAC All-Tournament MVP:
Maurice Haynes of John Carroll
| OAC All-Tournament Team 2008-09 |
Meyer |
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Kirbus |
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Stahl |
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Wood |
|
Gaines |
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OAC All-Tournament Team
Maurice Haynes of John Carroll
Chris
Zajac of John Carroll
Nate
Stahl of Capital
Ryan
Wood of Capital
Trevor Scott of Muskingum College
Kyle
Meyer (6'5''-F) of Ohio Northern
OAC 1st Team
Kyle
Meyer of Ohio Northern
Rudy
Kirbus of John Carroll
Nate
Stahl of Capital
Trevor Scott of Muskingum
Ryan
Wood of Capital
Justin Gaines (6'3''-G-88) of Wilmington
OAC 2nd Team
Andrew Bene of Baldwin-Wallace
Brian
Pollock of Otterbein
Tyler
Felt of Muskingum
Maurice Haynes of John Carroll
Brandon Rogers (6'8''-F-88) of Wilmington
Chris
Switzer of Mount Union
OAC All-Honorable Mention Team
Kevin
Knab of Marietta
Kurtis Brown (6'2''-F) of Ohio Northern
Trevor Halter of Marietta
Travis Kinn of Heidelberg
Quintin Mitchell (6'6''-F) of Capital
Josh
Calver of Heidelberg
Ezra
Bradshaw (6'2''-G) of Ohio Northern
David
Pellerite of Mount Union
Chris
Zajac of John Carroll
Isaiah Creasap of Marietta
OAC Player of the Year:
Nate
Stahl of Capital
OAC Coach of the Year:
Mike
Moran of John Carroll
Moran
