Box Score The Carthage College men's basketball team (4-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked 44th in the Dec. 3 "D3hoops.com" poll, knocked off No. 9 Calvin College (5-2), 74-68, on Friday, Dec. 6 at the 10th annual CCIW/MIAA Challenge at Calvin College's Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. No. 13 Wheaton College (Ill., 5-2) defeated Hope College (1-4), 80-61, in Friday's first game. On Saturday, Dec. 7, Carthage (4-2) meets Hope (1-4) at 1 p.m., EST with Calvin (5-2-) playing Wheaton (Ill., 5-2) at 3 p.m., EST.
The win over Calvin marked the Red Men's second upset of a top-10 team in nine days after defeating No. 4 Washington University (Mo.), 82-80, on Nov. 27.
Calvin led most of the first period and went up by nine points late in the half, 33-24, at 2:00. The Knights led by seven points at the break, 35-28. Carthage took a 45-44 lead at 15:30 second period. Calvin's last lead was 50-49 at 13:54. A
Donte Logan layup at 11:50 put the Red Men up to stay, 51-50. Carthage extended its lead to 10 points, 66-56 at 6:07. The Knights whittled it down to a point, 68-67, at 1:42, but the Red Men went on to win by six, 74-68.
Carthage shot 51 percent (26-51), including six-of-14 three-pointers, while Calvin shot 48 percent (25-52), including just two-of-eight from three-point range. The Red Men got to the free-throw line 21 times and made 16, while the Knights connected on 16-of-24 from the line. Calvin had a narrow, 31-29 rebounding edge.
Marlon Senior (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) led the Red Men with 25 points on seven-of-12 field goals and 10-of-11 free throws, along with six rebounds.
Reese Herth (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) had 12 points on four-of-13 shooting, while
Donte Logan (Jr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) had eight points and seven assists, while
Mike Kastel (Jr., St. Charles, Ill./Exeter (N.H.) Academy) added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Calvin's Tyler Kruis scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting and four-of-eight free throws, along with seven rebounds.
"This was an important game," said Carthage coach
Bosko Djurickovic. "We played very well the first part of the season, but we let two games get away. Good teams close out close games, and we were able to do that tonight.
Marlon Senior was outstanding, and he had many big plays down the stretch. As a senior, he's our go-to guy, and he's stepped up to become one of the better players in the league."
