Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Carthage College Athletics

The Official Website of The Carthage College Firebirds
Steve Djurickovic
Mike Gryniewicz
Steve Djurickovic with 25 points and eight assists at North Central

Carthage Men's Basketball Defeats North Central (Ill.), 85-71, on Jan. 20

No. 29 Red Men Move into a Three-Way Tie for First Place in the CCIW

1/20/2010 10:27:17 PM

Box Score

The Carthage College men's basketball team (12-4, 4-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 29th in the Jan. 19 “D3hoops.com” poll, defeated CCIW-opponent North Central College (8-8, 1-4 CCIW), 85-71, on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Gregory Arena/Merner Fieldhouse in Naperville, Ill. The win, combined with a Wheaton College (Ill.) win over Illinois Wesleyan University, 66-65, in Wheaton, Ill., left the Red Men in a three-way tie for first place in the league, along with Illinois Wesleyan and North Park University. North Park was a 58-53 winner over Elmhurst College on Wednesday.
 
Carthage jumped out to 5-0 lead, but North Central came back with a 12-3 run to close the gap to five points, 17-12, at 8:50. Carthage took an eight-point lead, 32-24, at 2:11 and led by eight at the break, 36-28. The Red Men went up by 10 points, 40-30, at 19:00 second half on a layup by Tyler Pierce. The lead went to 15 points, 46-31, at 16:27 on a three-pointer by Malcom Kelly. Carthage went up by 20 points, 58-38, at 11:42 on a pair of free throws by Pierce. The Cardinals closed to within 13 points. 62-49, at 8:47 on a layup by David Twyman, but the Red Men went back up by 19, 70-51, at 5:58 on a jumper by Steve Djurickovic. North Central came back with a 14-5 run to close to within 10 points, 75-65, at 2:37, but Carthage went on to win by 14 points, 85-71.
 
The Red Men shot a blistering 61 percent (30-49), while the Cardinals shot 41 percent (26-63). North Central out-rebounded Carthage, 35-29. Four Carthage players scored in double figures. Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) had 25 points on nine-of-15 field goals and seven-of-nine free throws, along with five rebounds and eight assists. Tyler Pierce (Fr., Westmont, Ill.) had 15 points, while Malcom Kelly (Fr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) and Cody Hilton (Sr., Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) each added 10 points. Mitch Thompson (Fr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had six points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. 

“For the most part tonight, we were a very good basketball team,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. “We had poise, we got the ball to right players at the right times, and we had some very good individual efforts. This was a good team effort against a pretty good North Central team. We couldn't be more pleased. We extended our lead nicely in the second half, and we did a fine job all the way through the second period. We've been a very good perimeter defensive team from the start of the season, and that's sort of an underrated part of this team. Cody Hilton is as good of a perimeter defender as there is in the league.”

On Saturday, Jan. 23, the Red Men play host to conference-opponent Millikin University (6-10, 1-4 CCIW) in a 4:30 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Print Friendly Version