Pennington records first career double-double in Men's Basketball overtime loss versus John Carroll
By: Andrew Korba
ADA--Sophomore Lucas Pennington recorded his first career double-double, but the Ohio Northern men's basketball team dropped a tough 82-76 overtime decision to John Carroll on Satuday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
With the loss, Ohio Northern falls to 5-4 on the season and 1-1 in OAC play, while the Blue Streaks improve to 4-3, 2-1.
Pennington scored 18 points and grabbed a career high 10 rebounds.
Junior Branden Rushton added 12 points, while junior Jared Horstman and sophomore Isaiah Roux each scored 10 points.
Kyle Hubbard led John Carroll with a game high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
With the score tied at 70, Northern had a chance to win it as time expired, but Roux's shot was off.
The Blue Streaks would gain possession first in overtime and convert on a layup by Regan Sweeney.
The Polar Bears were stopped on their next possession.
Roux then stole the ball from John Carroll and was fouled.
He converted one of two free throws to cut the JCU lead to 72-71 with 3:03 left.
ONU then forced a turnover and a layup by Pennington gave Northern their first lead since 10:59 mark of the first half.
The Blue Streaks would respond on their next possession on a basket by Kenny Janz to take the 74-73 lead with 2:28 left.
Northern would come up empty on their next possession and Hubbard would score on a layup to put the Blue Streaks up 76-73 with 1:26 left.
Rushton used an old fashion three point play to tied things up at 76-76 with 1:02 left.
Hubbard would respond for John Carroll and hit a jumper with 39 seconds left.
ONU came up empty on their next possession, and the Blue Streaks hit all four of their free throws to put the game away.
John Carroll got off to a quick start opening up a early 6-0 lead.
The Polar Bears responded with an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game on a layup by junior Dominique Royal.
A three by sophomore Jordan Martin with 10:59 left to play in the first half gave ONU their last lead at 16-14, until overtime.
The Blue Streaks took a 40-30 lead into the break.
"John Carroll is a great team," said head coach Kevin Byrne. "We played hard, but can't afford to only play one half. Our effort in the second half was great. We will be ready for the next game."
Northern struggled from the field, going 27-of-77 (35.1 percent), compared to 27-of-53 (50.9 percent) for the Blue Streaks.
John Carroll shot a solid 24-of-26 (82.8 percent) from the free throw line, while ONU was 12-of-20 (60 percent).
The Blue Streaks won the rebounding battle 42-41, but ONU grabbed 20 offensive rebounds while John Caroll had only seven.
Ohio Northern will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to Muskingum for a 3 pm game.