The Carthage College men's basketball team (3-3, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) closed out play at the University of California-Santa Cruz "Thanksgiving Classic" on Saturday, Nov. 29 with a 54-53 overtime win over California-Santa Cruz (2-4) at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif.  The Red Men lost to No. 4 Washington University (Mo., 5-0), 84-49, on Friday, Nov. 28.
 
With the victory over UC-Santa Cruz, head coach Bosko Djurickovic collected his 300th Carthage win (300-171, 19 years).  "I didn't know," said Djurickovic.  "It means I've been around and haven't screwed up too badly."

Carthage led by five points at halftime, 24-19, and the Red Men led by as much as seven on three occasions in the second period.  The Banana slugs tied the game, 44-44, at 3:56 and took a three-point lead, 49-46, with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.  A three-pointer by Carthage's Reese Herth with 42 seconds to go tied the game at 49-49.  UC-Santa Cruz had two shots to win the game with under eight seconds to play.  In overtime, the Banana Slugs took a 53-52 lead with 1:13 to go, but a layup by the Red Men's Cameron Van Wyk with 33 seconds on the clock put Carthage up to stay, 54-53.  UC-Santa Cruz missed a couple of three-pointers in the final 10 seconds.
 
Carthage shot 44 percent (20-46), including seven-of-17 three pointers, while UC-Santa Cruz shot just 35 percent (19-55), including just four-of-23 from three-point range.  The Red Men got to the free-throw line 15 times and made seven, while the Banana Slugs converted 11-of-18.  Carthage won the rebounding battle, 41-32.
 
Reese Herth (Sr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) led Carthage with 19 points on six-of-11 field goal, including four-of-five three-pointers, along with three-of-four free throws, seven rebounds and five assists.  Cameron Van Wyk (Sr., Wassenaar, Netherlands) scored 15 points on six-of-nine shooting and pulled down six boards.  Jared Ponce led the Banana Slugs with 13 points and five rebounds.

"We can't be pleased with our work on the court," said Djurickovic.  "We have so much work to do, if we're going to be a good basketball team.  We had 21 turnovers, and we can't do that.  Having said that, this one could have gone into the other column.  Given who we've played so far, I'm not at all displeased with being 3-3.  Reese Herth has now become our best playmaker, and he's found a new role as a senior.  He made a couple of big shots, and in the end it was his curl pass that helped win the game.  UC-Santa Cruz is a scrappy team and get after you, but they're not a good shooting team.  I like our team, but there's room for major improvement.  I'm mad at myself for allowing bad play to happen without enough change to make it better, but that will change as soon as we get home.
 
The Red Men play host to the Carthage Classic II, formerly known as the CCIW/MIAA Challenge, on Friday-Saturday, Dec. 5-6 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  On Friday, Dec. 5, No. 19 Calvin College (4-2) plays No. 43 Wheaton College (Ill., 4-2) at 6 p.m., followed by Carthage versus Hope College (1-3) at 8 p.m.  On Saturday, Dec. 6, Hope takes on Wheaton (Ill.) at 1 p.m., with the Red Men playing Calvin at 3 p.m.