Isaiah Philmore made history for John Carroll yesterday and also helped the host Patriots stop Aberdeen's 13-game winning streak. Philmore scored his 1,000th career point and finished with a game-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds to help John Carroll rally for a 71-65 victory over No. 15 Aberdeen before an overflow crowd.
The 6-foot-7 junior forward missed about half of the first half because of foul trouble. But Philmore sparked the Patriots offense in the second half by getting key offensive rebounds and making shots from everywhere. Philmore scored 20 in the second half - and grabbed 11 of his rebounds then.
"He certainly put our team on his back in the second half," John Carroll coach Tony Martin said. "He's a very determined young man."
Philmore scored his 1,000th point on a layup with 1:17 left in the third quarter. That cut Aberdeen's lead to 44-43, and the game continued to swing back and forth until the final minutes.
John Carroll (15-8) took command by scoring seven of the game's final eight points. The game was tied at 64 when Malcolm McMillan's put-back gave the Patriots the lead for good with 1:24 left. Philmore then made two key free throws with 24.2 seconds left to give John Carroll some breathing room.
"I'm happy to [reach 1,000], and it feels great," Philmore said. "All the hard work is finally paying off, and the win makes it three times better."
Raphael Jordan gave John Carroll a lot of help with 17 points, and Wyatt Smith added 10. Tyre Moore led Aberdeen (14-2) with 18 points, Devon Branch had 17, and Devon Saddler scored 13 as the Eagles' quickness gave the Patriots problems for long stretches.
But John Carroll had too much size inside, something that eventually turned the tide.
"Their size eventually wore on us to the point where they got a lot of big buckets in the paint late," Aberdeen coach Richard Hart said.