Luke Chicone's late heroics lead John Carroll men's basketball to win at Capital
Jan. 27—Luke Chicone's message moments after John Carroll's 74-72 win over No. 3-ranked Mount Union had everything to do with what was ahead on Jan. 27:
"We have to get on a bus in two days and go to Columbus and play Capital," said Chicone. "They're one heck of a team."
The No. 8-ranked Blue Streaks found that out as Capital gave them all they could handle until Mentor grad Chicone delivered clutch shots down the stretch to key a 73-65 victory.
Chicone scored 13 of his team's final 15 points in the last four minutes en route to a game-high 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the floor.
"I don't think Luke played his best for 35 minutes but during crunch time, he was big for us," said JCU coach Pete Moran. "We had problems scoring but the mark of a good team is winning different ways and we grinded one out."
The win improved JCU's season mark to 17-2 and 11-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, which keeps it alone in first place — a game-and-a-half ahead of Mount Union.
OAC games are usually played on Wednesdays and Saturdays but Capital requested this game to be played on a Friday night. JCU now has four days off until another road contest Feb. 1 at Heidelberg — a team that beat Mount Union earlier this season.
After two games in three nights, Moran's team will welcome the four days until its next game. That's because this victory was not easy.
"I think we had a little bit of a hangover from the Mount win," said Moran. "All these OAC games are important. This win means just as much as the win against Mount."
With 4 minutes, 24 seconds to play, the Blue Streaks trailed 59-58 on a Carter Combs 3-pointer. That's when Chicone went to work.
On the next possession, Chicone banked in a shot in the lane for a 60-59 lead. A Henry Raynor layup along the baseline extended the lead to 62-59.
A half-minute later, Chicone again shot just inside the free-throw line and rattled a shot home for a 64-59 advantage. Capital didn't fold and another basket made it 64-61.
Again, Chicone answered — this time a layup at 2:02 and it was 66-61. Another driving layup by Chicone made it 68-61 and after two Capital free throws close the game to 68-63, Chicone scored again on another driving layup.
Three free throws in the final seconds by Chicone — who added three rebounds and two assists — closed out the scoring.
JCU's Luke Frazier (Lake Catholic) added 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting with three rebounds. Luka Eller (Lake Catholic) had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Jerry Higgins (VASJ) and Henry Raynor each scored eight points. Chase Toppin added seven points, five steals and three assists.
The teams struggled throughout the night shooting. The Blue Streaks made 41.3 percent of their attempts, and Capital was barely better at 41.4. The home team also outrebounded JCU, 41-32, but the Blue Streaks' defense forced 22 turnovers.
Capital had three players in double figures scoring, led by Justin Nixon's 14 points.
