It took a while for things to click into place, but the Carthage College men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its season on Friday night, Nov. 13 with an 86-84 overtime win over Iowa Wesleyan University (0-1) in the opening round of the Carthage Classic at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
 
Adrian College (1-0) upended Robert Morris University-Peoria (0-1), 105-76, in the other first-round contest.  Robert Morris-Peoria takes on Iowa Wesleyan in the Saturday, Nov. 14 consolation game at 2 p.m.,  followed by Carthage versus Adrian in the 4 p.m. title game.
 
In the Red Men's win over Iowa Wesleyan, the Tigers led by as much as six points in the first period before the Red Men tied the game, 43-43, at the break.  Cold shooting plagued Carthage much of the second period, as Iowa Wesleyan opened up an eight-point lead, 64-56, at 13:11.   The Tigers still led by five, 72-67, at 3:31.  Iowa Wesleyan had a three-point lead, 78-75, after Brock Butler sank a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left.  The Red Men's Brad Kruse tied the game with a three-pointer at the 16-second mark to send the game into overtime.
 
Following an 83-83 tie at 1:21 in the extra period, Iowa Wesleyan took an 84-83 lead on a free throw by Sheldon Carter, but a three by Red Men freshman Jordon Kedrowski with 17 seconds on the clock proved to be the game winner.
 
Carthage shot 45 percent (29-65), including 13-of31 from three-point range, while Iowa Wesleyan shot 49 percent (32-65), including eight-of-21 three-points.  The Red Men got to the free-throw line 20 times and made 15, while Tigers connected on 12-of-22.  Iowa Wesleyan had a narrow, 40-39 rebounding edge.
 
Carthage's Jordon Kedrowski (Fr., Bolingbrook Ill./Downers Grove-North) led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-16 field goals, including  five-of-eight three-pointers, along with five assists.  Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Brad Kruse (So., Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) came off the bench to score 13 points.  Brock Butler led the Tigers with 18 points and 10 boards.
 
"We loved Jordon Kedrowski coming out of high school," said Carthage assistant coach Steve Djurickovic.  "We knew he was going t o be a big player.  He did a really good job.  We trust him with the ball, and he's just a very solid freshman.    We held Iowa Wesleyan to no three-pointers in the second half—that was big stat.  We did an OK job, kind of a collective effort on the boards.  We're happy with the win, but we have a tough game tomorrow with Adrian."