Survive and advance, by any means necessary.

The top-seeded John Carroll Blue Streaks took this mantra to extremes Tuesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference quarterfinal round match-up with eighth-seeded Heidelberg University. The home team would eventually prevail by an 86-65 score, but early heart palpitations were experienced by many in the partisan crowd assembled at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

With nearly 13 minutes left to play in the opening half, John Carroll found itself on the wrong end of a 20-4 score.

20-4.
 
Despite going down 16 points nearly eight minutes into the game, the JCU men's basketball team did not shake nor falter.
 
Piecing together multiple methodical runs, the Blue Streaks outscored Heidelberg University 33-14 in the final 12 minutes of the first half to turn the contest into a competitive ball game.
 
Riding the momentum into the second stanza, JCU would outscore the Student Princes 39-21 over the final 20 minutes, including 35-16 over the final 12 minutes, to roll into the OAC Tournament semifinal round where it will face #4 seed Baldwin Wallace on Thursday night in University Heights.
 
Senior Matt Csuhran connected on five three-pointers on the night, guiding the Blue Streaks with a game-high 26 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the victory.
 
Sophomore Ryan Berger chipped in 14 points for the Blue Streaks, and seniors Tony Vuyancih and John Cirillo contributed a dozen points each.
 
Holding Heidelberg on the defensive end, the Blue Streaks finished the night with 16 steals, accounting for a total of 19 points off of turnovers.
 
"It's our defense that translates into offense," said Csuhran about holding the Student Princes in the second half, and translating the defensive effort into points.
 
Heidelberg's Chris Moxley led Heidelberg with 18 points, hitting three of his four three-pointers in the first half, as the Student Princes finish their season with an 11-15 record.
 
Ryan Berger opened up the scoring for the Blue Streaks 21 seconds into the game, off of a steal and assist from Vuyancih.
 
The Berg then found their opening rhythm, as Prewitt hit a right wing three-pointer, followed by a Mike Mason layup and an ensuing Moxley three-pointer of his own, as Heidelberg burst out to a 12-4 lead.
 
Following a Kiere Bennie layup, the Berg reached their largest lead of the half at 20-4 with 13:39 showing on the first half clock.
 
Ryan Berger then sent a Josh Dixon three-point attempt into the Blue Streak bench, lighting a spark under the Blue & Gold. Cirillo ensued with a short jumper, followed by right wing three-pointer, awakening the DeCarlo Center crowd and cutting into Heidelberg's lead.
  
The Blue Streaks finally caught the Student Princes when Jackson Sartain, who was closely guarded all night after scoring 26 points on 8-9 shooting from the three-point arc just six days ago against Heidelberg, made his only three of the night to tie the score at 29-29.
 
Sophomore Sean Flannery then controlled the final two minutes hitting a two-point jumper and cutting Heidelberg's lead to one point.
 
Flannery sunk a free throw with 8.2 seconds left, giving the Blue Streaks their first lead of the game. Senior Brian Papich then stole the ball on the ensuing Heidelberg possession and connected on a buzzer-beating layup before the halftime buzzer.
 
The 12-5 run in the final four minutes of the opening half put the Blue Streaks up by three (37-34) at the break.
  
The Berger duo came out of the locker room in pursuit, as Jimmy Berger and Ryan Berger combined for six of JCU's eight points within the first three-and-a-half minutes.
 
Following a pair of Heidelberg free throws, Csuhran hit back-to-back three-pointers, giving the Blue Streaks what was a game-high nine-point lead.
  
Heidelberg was able to reduce its deficit down to two points at 51-49 when Moxley's driving lay-up at the 13:10 mark seemed to suggest the Student Princes would not be going away. But JCU answered with five consecutive points from Cirillo, 
points in the paint from junior Allan Stokes and a three-pointer from sophomore Greg Parella pushed the home team's advantage up to ten points at 61-51 with 10:59 to play.

Once John Carroll got the lead up to double digits, it never dropped back down to single digits the rest of the way. After being down 20-4, JCU closed the game out bu outscoring Heidelberg 82-45.
 
With the win on Mike Moran Court, the Blue Streaks keep a perfect 11-0 mark on their home floor intact. It was also John Carroll's 17th consecutive win in its series against Heidelberg dating back to 2010.
 
Up next, JCU will host crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace on Thursday night at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, with opening tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. Baldwin Wallace crushed Mount Union, 84-60, in its quarterfinal round game. The two teams split their regular season series, each winning on its own home floor.