Carthage enjoyed an 18-point lead at halftime, 38-20. The Red Men bumped their lead to 23 points, 43-20, at 17:58 second half, as Olivet got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, that being a 48-32 bulge at 14:24. The Red Men cruised from their to win by 19, 82-63. Carthage shot 48 percent (24-50), while Olivet shot just 35 percent (19-54). Four Carthage players scored in double figures. Trey Bowens had 18 points on six-of-nine field goals, including three-of-five from three-point range, and three-of-four from the free-throw line. Brian Schlemm also had 18 points , despite three-of-11 shooting from the floor, thanks to a 12-of-14 effort from the free-throw line. Schlemm also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Milos Vukosavljevic had 15 points on four-of-10 field goals, all from three-point range, while Sean Fendley chipped in 12 points. Joe Higgins dished out seven assists. Jeff Cooper topped the Comets with 12 points.
“We’ve played a lot of road games already,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, “and every one has its own personality. Olivet is a young team, and they’re trying to establish a foundation to their program, so they claw and scratch a little bit. They muddied up the game in the second half, so it wasn’t particularly fun to watch or to play. We’ve played some of the better teams in the country already, and those games were pleasurable to watch. We won it, and let’s go on to Marietta. I would expect Marietta to play more of an executing-type game than this one was. Marietta is coming off an upset win over Bridgewater, and hopefully we’ll be ready to take care of business.”
Newspaper Box Score Olivet vs Carthage 12-19-06 1:15 p.m. at Las Vegas, Nev. (UNLV McDermott Center) At Las Vegas, Nev. (UNLV McDermott Center) CARTHAGE 82, OLIVET 63 OLIVET (1-6) Jeff Cooper 4-11 2-2 12; Brandon Way 3-11 1-2 9; Eric McCoy 3-7 3-5 9; Andre Williams 4-8 0-0 8; Joel Kerns 2-6 2-2 7; Blake Brannick 1-1 3-5 5; John Zenner 2-6 1-1 5; Bryan Dutton 0-1 4-6 4; Lamar Johnson 0-0 2-2 2; Jon Shurr 0-1 1-2 1; Andy Sierminski 0-2 1-2 1; Paul Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 20-29 63. CARTHAGE (7-1) Schlemm, Brian 3-11 12-14 18; Bowens, Trey 6-9 3-4 18; Vukosavljevic, Milos 4-10 3-3 15; Fendley, Sean 4-5 2-2 12; Shemerdiak, Bill 3-5 0-0 7; Franciskovic, Neb 2-2 0-1 4; Majewski, Luke 1-2 2-2 4; Higgins, Joe 1-1 0-0 3; Thompson, Navarro 0-4 1-2 1; Jacklin, Billy 0-1 0-0 0; Mikolaitis, Dave 0-0 0-0 0; Moore, Eric 0-0 0-0 0; Hood, Scott 0-0 0-2 0; Nute, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 23-30 82. Olivet........................ 20 43 - 63 Carthage...................... 38 44 - 82 3-point goals--Olivet 5-18 (Brandon Way 2-4; Jeff Cooper 2-8; Joel Kerns 1-3; John Zenner 0-1; Bryan Dutton 0-1; Andy Sierminski 0-1), Carthage 11-26 (Vukosavljevic, Milos 4-10; Bowens, Trey 3-5; Fendley, Sean 2-2; Higgins, Joe 1-1; Shemerdiak, Bill 1-3; Thompson, Navarro 0-1; Majewski, Luke 0-1; Schlemm, Brian 0-3). Fouled out--Olivet-Andy Sierminski, Carthage-None. Rebounds--Olivet 32 (Eric McCoy 6), Carthage 38 (Schlemm, Brian 11). Assists--Olivet 11 (Brandon Way 6), Carthage 14 (Higgins, Joe 7). Total fouls--Olivet 23, Carthage 22. Technical fouls--Olivet-None, Carthage-TEAM. A-65 Adidas D-3 Desert Shootout first round