Quakers drop OAC Opener

Three score in double-figures

|Box Score|

December 3, 2005

Eric Stirling

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Rugged Kyle Roggenburk scored 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead John Carroll University past Wilmington College, 82-67, in Ohio Athletic Conference season-opening play Saturday. The loss snaps Wilmington¹s season-starting four-game winning streak, while JCU improves to 4-1.

"He¹s a big, physical post player, and it was a physical game," WC head coach Scott Reule said of Roggenburk. "He got some buckets off their transition, but most of his buckets came just because he was big and physical and went to work inside. He¹s tough to stop."

Wilmington¹s only lead of the game came when Josh Rohrbacher (Columbus/Beechcroft) put the Quakers up 4-2 at 18:12 of the first half. From that point, John Curran (15 points), Pete Moran (17 points) and Roggenburk took control as the Blue Streaks pushed the lead into double figures when Roggenburk scored at 13:09. Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) scored seven points over a two-minute span for the Quakers, cutting the deficit to 25-16. Wilmington got no closer the rest of the way.

The Blue Streaks led 39-29 at halftime and expanded the margin to as large as 20 points late in the game, but could never completely run away and hide from a game Wilmington squad.

"Our kids never gave up. With 1:32 left, we hit a three and cut it to 11 and called a timeout," Reule said. "We were down early and had some tough times handling their pressure, but our kids didn¹t give in. After the game, (John Carroll coach) Mike Moran said they just couldn¹t put us away. That¹s a credit to our kids for playing their butts off the entire time."

Stirling, Nick Berter (Cincinnati/Reading) and Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East) scored 13 points each for the Quakers, and Rohrbacher added nine. Reule said Harrison¹s performance was his best of the young season.

"He was exceptional. He was just a sparkplug off the bench, offensively and defensively," Reule said. "The level of defensive play that he brings to the floor is always a joy for you to see as a coach. He just comes out and gets after it."

John Carroll out-rebounded Wilmington, 43-32. Rohrbacher led the Quakers with five boards, while Berter collected four. The Quakers turned the ball over 24 times to 19 for JCU.

Wilmington is back on the OAC highway Wednesday, with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Otterbein.