The Carthage College men's basketball team (5-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 17th in the Dec. 1 “D3hoops.com” poll, defeated Indiana University-Northwest (3-6), 104-67, on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Savannah Center in Gary, Ind. Carthage took command of the game in the early going, opening up a 13-point lead, 31-18, at 7:35.  The Red Men made it a 23-point game, 47-24, at 2:45 and led by 23 at the break, 53-30. The lead went to 30 points, 71-41, at 13:40 second period. The Red Men led by 38 on three occasions in the second half, the last at 96-58 at 3:50, as Carthage cruised to a 37-point win, 104-67.

 

Carthage shot 56 percent (42-75), including 11-of-25 from three-point range, while Indiana-Northwest shot just 36 percent (22-62). The Red Men won the rebounding battle handily, 54-20. Four Carthage players scored in double figures. Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) had a game-high 24 points on nine-of13 field goals, including four-of-six three-pointers, along with four-of-four free throws, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Max Cary (So., Geneva, Ill.) had 20 points on nine-of-18 from the floor, along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Raul Guzman (Fr., Lyons, Ill./Berwyn,-Morton West) scored 15 points with 11 rebounds, while Tyler Pierce (Fr., Westmont, Ill.) added 11 points and seven boards. Pete Trgovich III, son of Indiana-Northwest coach Pete Trgovich, led the RedHawks with 24 points.

 

“We shared the basketball very well,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic “We did a good job tonight. Indiana-Northwest has a couple of nice players, but after that, they're just not that strong. We got to play a lot of people, so that was good. We had a strong effort on the boards, and that was good work. Max Cary had another solid game, and he's really starting to eat up some statistics. He gives up opportunities to get easier baskets than we've had in years.”

 

On Friday-Saturday, Dec. 4-5, the Red Men play in the sixth annual CCIW/MIAA Classic at Hope College's DeVos Field House in Holland, Mich.  On Friday, Dec. 4, Carthage plays Calvin College (1-3) at 6 p.m.,, EST, followed by No. 27 Hope (3-1) taking on No. 6 Wheaton College (Ill., 3-0) at 8 p.m., EST.  On Saturday, Dec. 5, Calvin takes on Wheaton (Ill.) at 1 p.m., EST, with Carthage playing Hope at 3 p.m., EST.