KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College Red Men scored in triple digits for the first time since the 2016-17 season on Sunday afternoon at Tarble Arena, dominating the Lions of Finlandia University, 112-68.
The win improves the Red Men to 2-1 on the season, while the Lions fall to 0-5.
Sunday marked the first 100-point performance since the Red Men topped Olivet College 103-68 on November 18, 2016 and is the most in a game since December 14, 2013 when Carthage defeated UW-Platteville, 112-104, in double overtime.
After a tightly contested opening few minutes that saw the Red Men holding a 17-14 lead with 12:24 remaining, the Red Men exploded on a 41-26 run to close the half and grab control of the game with a 58-40 halftime lead. During the run, the Red Men went 13-21 from the field and 7-11 from three, led by
Brett Czerak with ten points during the span. B. Czerak finished with with 14 points off the bench, going 4-7 from the field and 4-4 from three.
The Red Men continued their hot shooting in the second half, as Carthage hit on 55.9% from the field and 44.4% from three, connecting on 8-18 deep attempts to build a 46-point lead late in the game. For the game the Red Men were 41-71 from the field for 57.7% and 18-37 for 48.6% from three, while Carthage limited Finlandia to 26-60 on field goals and forced 20 turnovers that led to 29 Red Men points.
Preston Leketa led the Red Men with 26 points in the win, going 9-18 from the field and 6-10 from three. Also scoring in double digits were
Kienan Baltimore with 20 points,
Jordon Kedrowski with 17, and
Sean Johnson the aforementioned
Brett Czerak with 14 each. Czerak also led the Red Men scoring off the bench, which outscored the Lions bench 35-3.
After posting his first career double-double on Friday, Baltimore tallied his second on Sunday with a career-high ten assists to go along with his 20 points.
Sean Johnson, who tallied 47 blocks in his 2017-18 freshman season, continued to be a dominant force in the paint, as the sophomore center swatted seven shots for the second-time in his career, once again tying him for the third most in a game in program history.
The Red Men will return to action following the Thanksgiving holiday, when Carthage will travel to Carroll University for a pair of non-conference games at the 2018 Nicholas Funds Thanksgiving Classic. The Red Men will open with the Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday, November 24th at 5:00 p.m., followed by Washington University (Mo.) on Sunday, November 25th at 2:00 p.m.
