Box Score
The Carthage College men's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked fifth in the pre-season “D3hoops.com” poll opened play in the Carthage Classic on Friday, Nov. 19 with a 108-92 win over Bethany Lutheran College (1-2) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
In the other game, No. 18 John Carroll University (2-0) upended Indiana University-Northwest (0-8) by a 117-80 margin. John Carroll tied a tournament record with the 117 points, matching a Carthage effort in a 117-40 win over Taylor University-Fort Wayne in the 1999 event. Bethany Lutheran will play Indiana-Northwest in the consolation game on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m., followed by John Carroll against Carthage in the championship game at 3 p.m.
In Carthage's win over Bethany Lutheran, the first half was close, with neither team leading by more than seven points. The Vikings took a six-point lead, 24-18, at 12:10, but the Red Men battled back to take a seven-point lead at halftime, 50-43. Carthage scored the first seven points of the second half to jump out in front by 14 points, 57-43, at 18:31. After Bethany Lutheran whittled the lead down to nine, 57-48, at 18:03, Carthage went up by 15 points, 69-54, at 14:28.
The Vikings got it back to nine points one more time, 90-81, at 5:16, but a foul and a double technical foul on Bethany Lutheran's Derek Peterson sent Carthage's
Steve Djurickovic to the line for six free throws at 2:23. He converted five to give the Red Men a 19-point lead, 102-83. Carthage went on to win by 16 points, 108-92.
Carthage shot 60 percent (34-57), while Bethany Lutheran shot 49 percent (30-61). All five Carthage starters scored in double figures.
Steve Djurickovic (Sr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) scored game-high 35 points on seven-of-11 field goals and 20-of-22 free throws, along with seven assists. He connected on his first 14 free throws before missing on the 15th attempt.
Tyler Pierce (So., Westmont, Ill.) had 17 points and six rebounds.
Malcom Kelly (So., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) had 13 points, with
Mitch Thompson (So., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and
Max Cary (Jr., Geneva, Ill.) both chipping in 12 points.
“Bethany Lutheran played hard for 40 minutes,” said Carthage coach
Bosko Djurickovic,” “and you have to give them credit for that. They have multiple guys who can take the ball to the basket, and they're a good defensive team on the perimeter. In the first half, we were a step slow and lacked the intensity that we needed. We have a target on our backs, and we have to be ready to play every night. We got off to better start in the second half, and
Tyler Pierce was really alive in that stretch. He was moving quickly and finishing well. Also very good efforts by
Jon Cieski and
Max Cary.
Steve Djurickovic obviously put the team on his back, points wise. John Carroll is an outstanding team. They have a system that they implement well, and they go 10 or 11 players deep. They will be a difficult team to play.”
