Lights out shooting pays dividends.
 
Behind 60-percent shooting from behind the arc, the John Carroll University men's basketball team pulled away from Wilmington College in the second half to take the 96-86 win on Saturday afternoon inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.
 
"I'm obviously very happy," said assistant coach Frank O'Brien. "Every game in the OAC is a battle. Coach Hunt and Wilmington did a tremendous job. He had his kids ready to play."
 
With the win the Blue Streaks improved to 5-1, 4-0 OAC. JCU's last 4-0 conference start came during the 2004-05 season. The Fightin' Quakers fell to 1-6, 0-3 OAC.
 
The defense of Wilmington was challenged with a historic shooting performance by John Carroll as the Blue Streaks shot 12-for-20 from beyond the 3-point arc. The last time JCU was able to achieve this high percentage with at least 10 attempts came in 2010 against Capital.
 
John Carroll was able to fight off an 11-point deficit in the first half. Wilmington pulled ahead 24-13 with 10:35 remaining in the frame. The Blue Streaks responded with a 9-0 run led by five points from freshman Tony Vuyancih.
 
The Blue and Gold would go on to hold a tight 41-40 lead at the half.
 
David Linane heated up in the second half. The sophomore would score nine straight points to give John Carroll a 55-53 lead with 14:28 remaining in the stanza. He would put JCU up for good with 13:20 remaining.
 
Said O'Brien, "Fortunately for us David brought his A-game. We had a lot of guys knock down 3-pointers. As long we keep on shooting like that. We distributed it to a lot of people. The passes and the setups, some of these create good shots."
 
 
Leading the way for the Blue Streaks was David Hendrickson with 19 points including four 3-pointers and three steals. Vuyancih had a breakout performance as he chipped in 17 points while making all three of his 3-point attempts.
 
Senior R.J. Leppert had a strong effort as he led Wilmington with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds.
 
The win by John Carroll snapped a five-game slide in the all-time series with Wilmington.
 
John Carroll will travel to Marietta to take on the 25th-ranked Pioneers on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.