Box Score The Carthage College men's basketball team (11-10, 5-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) defeated CCIW-opponent Millikin University (1-20, 0-10 CCIW), 82-49, on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 4 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill. 

The Red Men have won 16 in a row over the Big Blue, and Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic has a 29-3 mark over Millikin since taking over the Red Men job in 1996-97.  The win left Carthage in fifth place in the CCIW one game behind fourth-place Augustana College (Ill., 16-5, 6-4 CCIW).  The Vikings were a 43-41 loser to North Central College on Saturday night.
 
Carthage broke out to an 11-point lead, 20-9, at 10:11.  Millikin pulled to within four points, 20-16, at 6:13.  Still leading by four, 22-18, at 5:38, the Red Men took off on a 9-0 run to take a 13 –point lead, 31-18, at 2:42.  Carthage upped its lead to 16 points, 37-21, just as the first half concluded.  The Red Men increased their lead to 23 points, 55-32, at 12:46 second half.  Carthage led by as much as 38 points, 79-41, at 1:41 and at 82-44 at 1:08.  The Red Men went on to win by 33 points, 82-49.
 
Carthage shot 48 percent (31-64), including 11-of-25 from three-point range, while Millikin shot 43 percent (21-49), including four-of-10 from three-point range.  The Red Men converted nine-of-11 from the free-throw line, while the Big Blue went three-of-five.  Carthage won the rebounding battle, 34-30, but Millikin turned the ball over 24 times to just 12 turnovers for the Red Men, who also collected 14 steals.
 
Three Carthage players scored in double figures.  Malcom Kelly (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored a game-high 20 points on seven-of-16 field goals, including four-of-nine three-pointers, along with two-of-two from the free-throw line, four rebounds and four steals.  Mitch Thompson (Jr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had 19 points, 16 in the first half, on seven-of-11 shooting, including one-of-two three pointers, along with four-of-five free throws.  Donte Logan (Fr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) chipped in 13 points on five-of-five field goals, including three-of-three from three-point range.  Luke Johnson (Fr., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy) missed the game with an ankle sprain.

“Give Millikin credit,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  “They played well, they played hard, and the crowd was good.  Matt Nadelhoffer is a good coach, and they will get this thing turned around.  We did what we needed to do and got ourselves moving forward toward what will hopefully be an exciting last two weeks.  We continue to grow into the pressing defense, and it's a style I like a lot.  I spent some time before the season with former-St. Thomas (Minn.) coach Steve Fritz, who gave me some ideas about playing this style.  I don't know if this will be a long-term thing, but it's good for what we have in the building right now.  It's a fun style to play, and I know the guys enjoy it.  Mitch Thompson moved well inside tonight within the Millikin defense, and he made himself available.  Donte Logan was outstanding, and I thought Marlon Senior played his best game in two years.  The good news for the next weeks is that we have three home games against three quality teams that we know we can compete against.  The bad news is that we have games left against quality teams that can compete with us.  We have not shown yet that we can close the deal in close league games.  That's going to have to happen.  With four games left, we have to leave everything we have on the floor, starting with Wheaton on Tuesday.”

Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent and No. 23 Wheaton College (Ill., 17-4, 8-2 CCIW) on Tuesday, Feb. 7 in a 7:30 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.