Box Score

The Carthage College men's basketball team (20-5, 12-2, 1st place College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 20th in the Feb. 16 “D3hoops.com” poll and second in the Feb. 17 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional poll, closed out its regular-season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 20 with a 70-63 win over CCIW-opponent Millikin University (7-18, 2-12 CCIW) at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill. 

With the win, Carthage won its third outright CCIW men's basketball title and its first since its NCAA final-four appearance in 2002. The Red Men, now with five CCIW titles to their credit, won shared conference titles in 1964 and 2003 and outright championships in both 2000 and 2002. The win also gave Carthage its first 20-win season since that 2002 squad went 28-2.

Carthage will play host to the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. The top-seeded and conference-champion Red Men will take on fourth-seeded Augustana College (Ill., 16-9, 9-5) in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 26, with Illinois Wesleyan University (19-6, 10-4) playing Wheaton College (Ill., 18-7, 10-4) in the other semifinal contest, beginning at 5 p.m. The tournament-championship game will be played on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m., with the winner receiving the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. The conference launched its post-season tournament in 2006, and this is the first year that Carthage has qualified for the event.

In the win over Millikin, Carthage took a 10-point lead, 28-18, at 7:02 first period. Millikin came right back with a 12-2 run to tie the game, 30-30, at 1:54. The Red Men closed out the half with a 5-0 run to lead by five at the break, 35-30. Carthage went up by eight points on two occasions in the second half, the last at 40-32 at 17:54. The Big Blue closed to within a point twice, including 51-50 at 8:52. The Red Men were leading by just three, 60-57, at 4:39 before going up by seven points, 64-57, at 3:23 on a pair of free throws by Eric Moore. Carthage went on to win by seven, 70-63.

Carthage shot 51 percent (27-53), while Millikin shot 49 percent (26-53). The Red Men out-rebounded the Big Blue, 34-25. Carthage's Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) scored a game-high 34 points on 13-of-22 field goals, including one-of-five three pointers, along with seven-of-nine free throws and six assists. Djurickovic, with 1,876 career points, passed Jack Lutz (1,867 points, 1966-69) on Carthage's career scoring list.  Djurickovic is now second on the career scoring list, trailing only Jason Wiertel (2,113 points, 1999-2002).

Tyler Pierce (Fr., Westmont, Ill.) was the only other Carthage player in double figures with 16 points on seven-of-11 from the floor, along with six rebounds. Devin Demby topped Millikin with 17 points on seven-of-13 shooting, along with six rebounds. Joscar Demby had 12 points and five rebounds, and Charles Warren chipped in 10 points.

“Our kids worked hard for this,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic,” and they played well enough to earn it. This wasn't easy today, Millikin had a really good game plan, they executed it well and they attacked us in our weak areas. Give them credit. We had some people step up. Eric Moore was fabulous at a time when we were scuffling. Now that the regular-season is over, I'll also say this about Steve Djurickovic. What he brings to the table every night is pretty special. Not every night is perfect—nobody is. He stays with it, and his numbers are just off the charts. His accomplishments have been a little hollow over the past two years, because we only went 7-7 in the league. This is Steve's season, and it doesn't end here."

"Friday's Augustana game in the conference tournament ," continued coach Djurickovic, "is going to be a clash of wills. They're going to shove the ball in and try to destroy us on the boards. We have to handle the physical play, stop the ball in transition and compete on the boards. Our skills are better, but their will to win is usually really good, It'll be a great game, and it's going to be fun Friday night at Tarble Arena. Every championship is special, but this one has really been fun. Carthage has been a great, supportive school for me, and I couldn't love this more.”