PASADENA, Calif. – The Carthage College Red Men were able to withstand a pesky defensive performance by the Caltech Beavers in Pasadena, California on Monday to pull away and earn an 81-58 road victory to open the west coast road trip.

"I think what surprised me in advance, thinking it was Caltech, was they were going to be so correct and not as physical.  They are very physical and tough kids," said head coach Bosko Djurickovic following the win.  "They go after every rebound.  They go after every possession.  You have to give them credit.  They stayed in the game a little longer than we would have liked, but that happens.  We end up with a 23-point road win.  Now we face a short turn around to go get La Verne tomorrow afternoon.  It will be an important game that we need to win."

The win moves Carthage to 6-3 in 2016 overall, while Caltech remains winless on the season at 0-8.

Mike Stevenson led all scorers in the game with 20 points followed by Brad Kruse with 14 and Brad Perry with 10.
 
The Red Men opened hot from the field, shooting 5-of-6 from the field including a perfect three-for-three from the center Perry in the paint to give Carthage an early 11-7 lead with 15:54 left in the first.
 
Foul trouble for the Red Men slowed the offense for Carthage much of the final three-quarters of the first half, going on scoring droughts that let Caltech stay in the game and eventually cut the lead to one at 21-20 in favor of the Red Men.
 
The Red Men managed to overcome eight offensive boards by the Beavers, which led to a 9-2 disadvantage for the Carthage on the second chance.  However and 11-5 run by Carthage to close the final five minutes of the half, including five points from Kozil gave the Red Men their largest lead of the game going into the half at 32-25.
 
Carthage pushed the lead to ten out of the halftime break as Jordan Thomas opened the half with a three pointer to give Carthage a 35-25 lead.  It was part of five straight points from Thomas to start the half for Carthage.
 
With Caltech hanging around keeping the Red Men's lead in single digits much of the half until Stevenson hit a three with 8:41 remaining in the game that gave Carthage the momentum to pull away down the stretch. 
 
Finishing with 14 points in the second half, Stevenson went four-of-four shooting from the field and five-of-seven from the stripe in the second frame, leading Carthage to close the final 8:41 on a 32-18 run to earn the tough win on the road.
 
The Red Men return to action Tuesday, December 20th at the University of La Verne.  Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. on the west coast, 4:00 p.m. in the central.