LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Carthage College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season Wednesday night, earning an 82-63 road victory over Lake Forest at the Sports & Recreation Center.
- Final Score: Carthage 82 - Lake Forest 63
- Location: Lake Forest, Ill. - Sports & Recreation Center
- Records: Carthage 2-0, Lake Forest 1-1
Carthage opened the game with a layup from Ryan Johnson before Lake Forest responded with a three-pointer to take its first lead. The Firebirds answered with baskets from KJ Cathey, Chris Schlesinger, and Sam Ritchie to move in front. Tre Blissett added a layup following a steal by Schlesinger, and Braylen Meredith scored consecutive baskets to help Carthage maintain its advantage to five.
The teams continued to trade baskets throughout the first half, with Johnson connecting from beyond the arc and Blissett adding a second-chance jumper. After Lake Forest tied the game at 29 with just over two minutes remaining, Johnson converted two free throws and added a layup off an offensive rebound from Meredith. Blissett capped the stretch with a dunk to give Carthage a 35-29 lead before Lake Forest connected on a late three-pointer to make it 35-32 at halftime.
Carthage came out strong after the break, with Schlesinger knocking down a three-pointer on an offensive rebound to open the second-half scoring. He followed with two free throws to extend the lead to eight. After Lake Forest cut the deficit to two, Schlesinger answered with another three-pointer to restore the Firebirds' advantage.
Johnson added a jumper inside before Meredith converted two free throws and scored another basket. Bunkosky followed with a layup, and Blissett connected from beyond the arc to help Carthage build a 57-43 lead.
The Firebirds continued to create separation as Johnson scored on a layup and Blue knocked down a three-pointer. Johnson then finished a dunk off an assist from Cathey, while Blue converted two free throws to extend the advantage. Sheridan added a layup, and Johnson continued his strong second-half performance with another basket inside and three free throws.
Carthage maintained control down the stretch as Cathey converted two free throws, Meredith scored a late jumper, and Schlesinger added two free throws. Meredith converted one more at the line in the closing seconds to secure the 82-63 victory.
- Ryan Johnson led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds, recorded two steals and added one block.
- Braylen Meredith finished with 16 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
- Tre Blissett and Schlesinger each scored 12 points. Blissett added four rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Schlesinger recorded five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
- The Firebirds also capitalized on Lake Forest turnovers, scoring 22 points off turnovers compared to four for the home team.
"Really good second-half effort against a talented Lake Forest team. We did a nice job of scoring off turnovers and stringing together some stops to extend the lead in the middle part of the second half.
Ryan Johnson was excellent on both ends of the floor.
Defensively, our communication needs to continue to improve. We struggled in the first half in their screening actions but did a much better job in the second half.
I was happy with our attack against Lake Forest's 1-3-1 zone. We got the ball where it was supposed to be and were proud of the guys' organization against it.
Need to prepare for a very good UW-Stout team that returns a ton of pieces on Saturday. It will be a fun, physical basketball game!"
- Carthage plays Wisconsin-Stout at home on Saturday, November 14 at 2 p.m.
