The Muskingum men's basketball team suffered a loss to John Carroll on Saturday afternoon, 88-79.

The Basics
• Records: Muskingum (2-4 overall, 0-3 OAC), John Carroll (4-3 overall, 1-2 OAC)
• Location: University Heights, Ohio

Inside the Numbers
• Senior Brandon Keyes notched an impressive double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds. 
• Junior Marcus Dempsey led the team in scoring with 25 points and pulled down four rebounds. 
• Senior Devon Peart cashed in 12 points and two assists.
• Senior Jalen Paige scored 11 points.
• As a team, the Muskies went 29-for-64 (45.3%) from the field and 7-for-28 from the arc (25.0%).
• Jimmy Berger led John Carroll in scoring with 30 points while Greg Parella had 14 points, and Jackson Sartain collected 13 points.
• John Carroll made 40.3% of their shots (31-for-77), went 15-for-47 from the arc (31.9%), and ended the contest going 11-for-15 from the free-throw line (73.3%).

Game Highlights
John Carroll started the game with a 20-6 burst, thanks to a three-pointer by Sean Flannery at the 14:16 mark. Junior Cameron Miller brought the Muskies back within 11 points of the Blue Streaks (31-20) with 7:03 remaining. John Carroll used a 13-5 spurt to pull away from Muskingum (44-25) at the 3:05 juncture. In the final three minutes of play, Muskingum outscored the Blue Streaks (6-3) making it 47-32 at the half.

In the second half, Paige sank a jumper to close the gap to eight points (51-43) after an 11-4 Muskie burst with 16:20 to go. The teams traded baskets up to the 13:53 mark when Connor Fitzgerald buried a three-pointer to give the Blue Streaks a 13-point cushion (62-49) with 13:53 left in the game. The Muskies continued to fight as Peart drained a shot to decrease John Carroll's advantage to eight points (72-64) with 5:56 to go. Then Keyes drilled a bucket with 1:34 on the clock, bringing Muskingum within seven points of John Carroll (81-74). Despite the Muskies' efforts, the Blue Streaks hung on after Jimmy Berger's layup, winning the game 88-79.

Up Next
Muskingum next hosts Kenyon on Wednesday, December 12. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.