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Tony Pierce Jr. scores 16 points in his Carthage debut on Dec. 20
32
York (N.Y.) YORK-M 2-9
61
Winner Carthage CARTHAGE 5-4
York (N.Y.) YORK-M
2-9
32
Final
61
Carthage CARTHAGE
5-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
York (N.Y.) YORK-M 14 18 32
Carthage CARTHAGE 31 30 61

Game Recap: #22 Men's Basketball | | By Steve Marovich, Part-Time Assistant to the Director of Athletic Communications

Men's Basketball Opens Puerto Rico Classic with a 61-32 Win over York (N.Y.)

Red Men vs. North Central (Minn.) on Monday in Bayamón

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The Carthage College men's basketball team (5-4, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened play at the Puerto Rico Division III Classic on Sunday, Dec. 20 with a 61-32 win over York College (N.Y.. 2-9) at the Rubén Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.  The Red Men take on North Central University (4-5) on Monday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m., AST (6 p.m., CST).  
 
In the win over York, Carthage opened up a 16-4 lead at 12:42 first period.  After York pulled to within nine points, 19-10, the Red Men closed out the period on a 12-4 run to take a 17-point halftime lead, 31-14.  Carthage opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers by Tony Pierce Jr. and Jordan Kedrowski to open up a 23-point margin, 37-14, at 19:03.  Two free throws by Mike Leazer at 15:11 made it a 25-point game, 43-18, and a driving layup by Pierce at 11:58 turned it into a 31-point game, 50-21.  Carthage's lead ballooned to 38 points, 59-21, at 6:46, as the Red Men cruised to a 29-point decision, 61-32.
 
Carthage shot 56 percent (22-39), including seven-of-13 from three-point range, while York shot just 34 percent (13-38), including two-of-10 three-pointers.  The Red Men got to free-throw line 19 times and made 10, while the Cardinals connected on four-of-seven.  Carthage won the rebounding battle by a 31-21 margin.
 
Transfer Tony Pierce Jr. (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West), making his debut with the Red Men, scored a game-high 17 points on six-of-seven field goals, including two-of-three three-points and three-of-five from the free-throw line.  Pierce played the 2012-13 season at Kennedy-King College before transferring to Carthage last year as a non-playing student.  Jordon Kedrowski (Fr., Bolingbrook Ill./Downers Grove-North) scored 15 points on six-of-eight shooting, including three-of-three three-pointers, along with a game-high seven rebounds and four assists.  Jason Whea led York with nine points.

"There's no guarantee that we can play like this every night," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "but anytime you can take what you practice into a game, the coach is pleased, and that's exactly what happened tonight.  We had a pretty good idea of how to attack this team, and the guys really did a good job.  Mike Leazer stuck his nose in and did a good job on the boards.  Tony Pierce is nice offensive basketball player with a good feel for the game., and he shoots the ball with no fear.  This was a really nice team effort.  I wanted to try something different tonight, because I haven't liked the way we've played, so far.  I changed the lineup, and I may keep doing that to give us a fresh perspective each night.  Tomorrow will be tougher, since North Central (Minn.) will have a night off, and they play a different kind of game than York."

Bosko Djurickovic (508-267, 30 years overall/312-188 in 20 years at Carthage thru Dec. 20) coaches the Red Men, and Sunday's North Central (Minn.) game will be his 500th contest at Carthage.  Carthage left for Puerto Rico on Friday and returns next Wednesday, Dec. 23.  The following Wednesday, Dec. 30, the Red Men close out their non-conference schedule with a 7 p.m. game against No. 7 Benedictine University (Ill.) at the Dan & Ada Rice Center in Lisle, Ill.
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