DELPHOS — The St. John’s Blue Jays rode a fourth-quarter burst over a suddenly-cold Fort Recovery Indian squad and downed the Tribe 59-48 to gain their inaugural Midwest Athletic Conference triumph of the 2006-07 campaign and end a 7-game skid Friday evening in “The Vatican”.

St. John’s did it without the services of Kazz Bryan, who picked up his fourth foul with 2:27 remaining in the third and remained on the bench for the remainder of that quarter and for a goodly portion of the fourth period.

“We held our own when Kazz was in foul trouble,” a pleased St. John’s coach Doug Etgen commented.

With the Jays up 36-34 with 2:55 left in the third, courtesy of a freebie by Taylor Bowersock, Bryan picked up his fourth foul 28 ticks later, much to the displeasure of the sideline St. John’s referees.

That became a defining moment for the Jays. Would they rise to the occasion without their leader?

Clint Tobe canned a fielder for the Indians to knot the game at 36 but Tony Reindel canned a buzzer-beating goal to give the hosts a 2-point edge to get “The Vatican” rocking and rolling, with an underlying sense of apprehension from the home partisans.

Greg Kahlig canned a goal with 6:58 left in the contest for the visitors. Then the Jays began to answer the question affirmatively. Cameron Hermiller connected on a clutch 3 to give the hometowners the lead for good. Reindel hit 1-of-2 from the line and Bob Koester a fielder, followed by a Kahlig triple with 3:44 left. Then Hermiller took over, as he hit two buckets.

“Cameron responded to the pressure,” Etgen stated. “He kept his head up.”

After a Kahlig triple and a Tobe goal, St. John’s took advantage of an untimely Indian cold streak from the field — missing 11 consecutive shots. The Jays canned seven free tosses to ensure the MAC win.

It didn’t look as if the Blue Jays would gain their first conference victory as the Fort raced out to a quick 5-0 advantage, on two Toby Metzger goals and a Tony Diller freebie. However, Bryan got the Jays’ offense kick-started with a goal on a drive through the lane. Bobby Rammel sank two triples around a Bryan goal to give the Mercer County quintet a 7-point lead at the 3:02 mark of the first. The Jays would reply with a spurt capped by a Taylor Bowersock freebie to trim the visitors’ lead to one after a quarter.

Austin Paxson hit a goal to give the hosts a 1-point edge just :29 into the second on a drive and Hermiller’s 3-pointer increased it to four. Kahlig took over for the Tribe, scoring seven straight to give the guests a 3-point lead 4:46 before halftime. The teams would battle for the lead the remainder of the half, with Bryan’s rebound basket with 25.9 ticks showing knotting the contest at 25 to enter intermission.

On two Hermiller fielders, the second on a steal and a layup, the Jays took a 33-28 lead with 5:25 left in the third. There wouldn’t be much further scoring in the canto as the Jays took a 2-point advantage into the fourth period.

Hermiller paced the Jays with 20 markers and Bryan added 16. They hit 19-of-38 from the field (50 percent), 50 percent from beyond the triple line (3-of-6), and 18-of-23 (78 percent) from the stripe. They won the battle of the backboards 35-23. St. John’s (4-11, 1-5 in the MAC) makes the short journey to Lincolnview to do battle with the Lancers in a non-conference go-around this evening.

“We need a second and third scorer to help Kazz’s scoring,” Etgen added. “Kazz does a lot of things well. We made too many turnovers in the first half (11) and Fort Recovery converted their second shots in the first half. Fort Recovery shot a lot of shots.”

The Tribe hit 18-of-62 (29 percent) from the field, 8-of-25 beyond the arc (32 percent), and 4-of-7 from the charity stripe (58 percent). Both squads made 17 miscues. G. Kahlig paced the Fort with 19 and C. Tobe poured 10 through the netting. Recovery (9-6, 3-4 in the MAC) visits Jay County (Ind.) in a non-league tilt this evening.