WAUKESHA – The Carthage College men's basketball squad picked up their ninth conference win on Wednesday defeating Carroll (Wis.) 84-75. 

• Final Score: Carthage 84 - Carroll (Wis.) 75
• Location: Waukesha, Wisconsin - Van Male Fieldhouse
• Records: Carthage 15-5 (9-2 CCIW), Carroll (Wis.) 6-14 (2-9 CCIW)

• AJ Williams knocked down a jumper in the paint to give the Firebirds a 10-7 lead early in the first half.  
• Carroll (Wis.) took a four-point advantage with a jumper at the 12:59 mark.  
• Riley Brooks answered with a jumper and a layup, cutting the deficit to three.  
• Griffin Daun converted a layup and completed a three-point play to put Carthage back on top, 35-30.  
• With 1:34 left in the half, Tanner Lamb buried a three-pointer to extend Carthage's lead to 46-41.  
• The Firebirds carried a 47-41 advantage into halftime.  
• Carthage's lead grew to 11, capped off by a layup from Brooks.  
• Ryan Johnson later connected from long range, making it 65-56.  
• Carroll (Wis.) fought back, cutting the deficit to one with a jumper at the 5:33 mark.  
• Carthage responded with a three-pointer from Johnson, igniting a quick 6-2 run to maintain control with 18 seconds remaining.  
• Carroll (Wis.) trimmed the deficit to seven, but AJ Johnson's free throws secured the 84-75 victory for the Firebirds.

• Riley Brooks led Carthage with 21 points, while Griffin Daun added 17.
• Ryan Johnson and AJ Johnson each added 13 points.  
• Ryan Johnson controlled the boards with 13 rebounds, while Daun collected nine.

"Great team effort tonight against an experienced and well coached Carroll team. We were much better on the defensive end of the floor tonight and did an outstanding job of running their shooters off the three point line! Credit to AJ Williams and Griffin Daun for battling through screens for 40 minutes!

Riley Brooks did a nice job attacking on the offensive end in the first half to get us a first half lead! Ryan Johnson hit a huge 3 when we needed one late in the game and AJ Johnson had a big finish and iced the game at the FT line. 

The bench was awesome tonight! Tanner Lamb and Colton Sigel both knocked down a couple three pointers in the first half and Garrett Arnold and Nemi Ostojic were excellent on both ends of the floor!

Huge game coming up at Tarble on Saturday vs Illinois Wesleyan. They're the #2 team in the country for a reason and present a lot of challenges on both ends of the floor. On us to prepare well these next two days and compete at a high level on Saturday."

• The Firebirds welcome No. 2 Illinois Wesleyan to Tarble Arena on Saturday, February 8 starting at 4:15 p.m.