The Carthage College men's basketball team (8-3, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 23rd in the Dec. 29 “D3hoops.com” poll, defeated King's College (Pa., 3-8), 69-46, on Sunday, Jan. 3 on the second day of the “Wilkes-Barre Challenge” at King's College's William S. Scandlon Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Wilkes University (7-3) defeated the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (1-11), 80-68, in Sunday's first game. On Saturday, Jan. 2, Carthage ended a two-week schedule break with a 72-61 loss to Wilkes (6-3), while King's (Pa., 3-7) bombed John Jay (1-10), 100-64.

 

In the Red Men's win over King's (Pa.), Carthage edged away to a an 11-point lead in the first half, 32-21 at 2:11. King's (Pa.) closed out the period with an 8-0 run to make it a three-point game, 32-29, at halftime. The second half was all Carthage, as the Red Men out-scored the Monarchs by 20 points, 37-17. Carthage opened the period with a 24-6 run to take a 21-point lead, 56-35, at 8:12. The Red Men opened up a 24-point bulge, 63-39, at 4:07 and led by 24 again, 67-43, at 2:21, as Carthage cruised to a 23-point victory, 69-46. 

The Red Men shot 40 percent (20-50), while King's (Pa.) shot just 28 percent (13-47), including 10 percent in the second half (2-21). Carthage won the battle of the boards, 38-27, over the Monarchs. Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) and Tyler Pierce (Fr., Westmont, Ill.) were named to the all-tournament team. Djurickovic scored a game-high 30 points on five-of-11 field goals, including two-of-three three-pointers, along with 18-of-19 free throws, six rebounds and eight assists. Max Cary was the only other Carthage player in double figures with 13 points. Tyler Pierce had seven points and five rebounds. Kevin Conroy topped King's (Pa.) with 18 points and five boards.

 

The “Wilkes-Barre Challenge” concluded the Red Men's non-conference schedule. Carthage opens its CCIW card on Wednesday, Jan. 6 by playing host to No. 8 Wheaton College (Ill., 8-3, 0-0 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

“It all begins with defense,” said Carthage head coach Bosko Djurickovic. “If you can't defend, it's very difficult to out-score people every night. I thought we defended very well in this game and put ourselves in a position to be successful. Our defensive energy was great. We did turn the ball over 15 times, and that's unacceptable. We also did a poor job of closing out the first half. Cody Hilton was superb in the first half, and Steve Djurickovic put the game on his back in the second half. He made the right decisions, got the ball to the right people and made his free throws. We were really good in the second half. Given the quality of the schedule we've played and the amount of miles we've put in, and the youth that we have, 8-3 is a pretty good start. Now, it's all 0-0 as we start conference play. We'll load up for real on Wednesday against Wheaton (Ill.).”

“It should be fun against Wheaton,” Djurickovic continued, “and we should have a nice crowd. It'll be nice to play at home. We have a tough four-game schedule to open league play. I think there four or five teams who think they can win the CCIW, and all eight teams think they can be in the top-four. That's how good the league is this year, from top to bottom, and it also speaks to the fact that the CCIW doesn't have a super team this year.”