When in doubt, ramp up the defense. Per usual, that’s what Coach Pete Moran and his staff called upon Dec. 17 as the John Carroll men’s basketball team posted a 92-73 win at Wooster that stopped a two-game losing streak in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Blue Streaks improved to 6-2 and 1-2 in the NCAC. It was a difficult start this season in conference play for JCU. It recently lost its NCAC opener at Wittenberg, 80-79, then to Wabash at home, 101-97. An 0-3 start in NCAC play isn’t a path to a conference championship, so Moran noted the game at Wooster was about as “must-win” as it could get. JCU delivered, thanks a full-court press approach that forced 29 turnovers and turned those into 32 points. “That’s who we are,” said Moran. “That’s our identity. We came in with a good game plan, and we executed. We didn’t shoot well, but we got extra possessions off our defense.” Point guard Luke Chicone of Mentor led the way with 21 points, nine assists, five steals and four rebounds. He was 9 of 17 from the floor, but as a team JCU shot 41.3%. From 3-point range, it shot 9 of 35. However, the Blue Streaks took care of the ball with just 11 turnovers. Wooster is a team that plays a slow, half-court game and likes to pound the ball inside, but Moran’s team forced the Scots out of their comfort zone and into mistakes. JCU led, 43-36, at halftime. Its biggest lead of the night was 24 points. Jack Zapolnik led two others in double-figure scoring for the Blue Streaks with 13 points. Kasey Hunt scored 12, and Brandon Rose of Gilmour added 11. Kyle Irwin (Mayfield) scored eight points and had four assists. Following the narrow losses to Wittenberg and Wabash, Moran’s message to his team was to finish. It left no doubt against Wooster (3-6, 1-2) but the work continues mostly because the majority of JCU’s roster – save Chicone and Aidan Fitzgerald (Lake Catholic) – is still raw in terms of game experience. “We’re still a work in progress,” said Moran. “We’re finding out this league plays really good basketball. Teams play hard, and they’re well-coached. We’ve had two losses by five points, and our focus now is finishing out games. When we got the lead, we finished the game off. We could easily be 8-0, but we’re not. We’re 6-2, and we’re still learning. It was a nice bounceback win.” Jaiden Cox-Holloway of Richmond Heights led Wooster with 18 points and 14 rebounds. The Blue Streaks return home Dec. 20 and 21 to host its JCU Classic. On Dec. 20, they play Penn State Harrisburg at 2 p.m., then Chatham University the following day at 3 p.m. ...read more read less