BCL Quarterfinal-Mt. St. Joe vs John Carroll

<p>On Monday evening inside of The Smith Center on the campus of Mount St. Joseph, the No. 3 seeded Gaels played host to the No. 6 seeded John Carroll Patriots for a BCL Quarterfinal bout. The Patriots delivered several knock out punches to begin the game and while Mount St. Joe made a late push, the Patriots had made up too much ground and escaped with a 67-65 win to advance to the BCL Semifinals.</p> <p>Here are five takeaways from the contest:</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Commander steps up when needed most</strong></span></p> <p>2022 John Carroll guard [player_tooltip player_id="837919" first="Tyson" last="Commander"] has experienced his ups and downs throughout this shortened season, but the sniping 6-foot-3 lefty came through when his team needed him most on Monday night. Commander led the way for the Patriots with 22 points, 15 of which came in the first half when John Carroll established their early lead. He finished with four three’s on the night and his biggest came late in the fourth as the Gaels cut the lead to four with less than two minutes left. Commander was confident and aggressive as a scorer. They’ll need a similar approach from him going forward if they want a chance to play for the BCL title.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Crawley refuses to go down easy</strong></span></p> <p>2021 Mount St. Joe point guard [player_tooltip player_id="902023" first="Ausar" last="Crawley"] is a four-year varsity player and has been an integral piece to their success over that span of years. When the Gaels dug themselves an early whole, it was Crawley who led the comeback in the third quarter and I wouldn’t have expected anything less. 14 of his game-high 24 points came in the fourth quarter. If he wasn’t nailing shots off the dribble, Crawley was leading the break for quick scores and picking up his man full court to create a chaotic tempo. He’ll spend his college career on the football field for Morgan State, but Crawley’s impact on the hardwood for Mount St. Joe will always be remembered.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Relentless effort</strong></span></p> <p>John Carroll has won its last seven-straight games and there’s no secret as to why. As a group, they’re focused and dialed in at being committed to doing the small things. On Monday, that included gang rebounding on the offensive end. They made their presence felt early on in this regard as they converted on eight second-chance points. 2022 forward [player_tooltip player_id="777067" first="Cesar" last="Tchilombo"] did his due dilligence on both ends throughout, 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="957030" first="Jeannot" last="Basima"] has quickly become one of the best rebounding guards you’ll find in the conference and the duo of 2021 [player_tooltip player_id="712769" first="Jalen" last="Bryant"] and 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="904680" first="TJ" last="Vaughn"] helped out from the guard slots in collected a few offensive boards a well. It’s this sort of group effort that is needed to complete upsets like they did on Monday, so I’m sure they’ll look to stick to the formula as they take the court tonight in the semis.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Stines ends career with effort</strong></span></p> <p>2021 Mount St. Joe guard [player_tooltip player_id="954213" first="D’Angelo" last="Stines"] combined forces with Crawley in getting their team back within reach. The Old Dominion commit scored 12 of his 22 in the final frame and took a very aggressive approach as a scorer. If he wasn’t pulling from deep, Stines was attacking the rim for fouls and converting at the line. Stines in the epitome of trusting the process after spending his first two years on the junior varsity team before exploding late last season on varsity and surfacing as a Division I prospect. His IQ, willingness to play at both ends and relentless work ethic will result in a long and productive college career.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>What’s next for John Carroll?</strong></span></p> <p>The Patriots will take on the No. 2 seed Archbishop Spalding tonight at Calvert Hall for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The BCL Player of the Year Cam Whitmore is coming off yet another 25-point performance in their quarterfinal win over Goretti. Whitmore and 2022 guard [player_tooltip player_id="904646" first="Tyheil" last="Peterson"] had big performances last time out against John Carroll as the Cavaliers went onto win 78-68 in the third game of the season. This John Carroll team is in a much different place now and if they rebound anywhere near as well as they did against Mount St. Joe, they’ll be in position to stage another upset.</p>