With the victory, the Bluejays improve to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the CCIW while Millikin slipped to 12-12 overall and 4-9 in league play.
Elmhurst took advantage of its considerable size advantage, outrebounding Millikin 49-28, including a 24-9 edge on the offensive glass.
The Bluejays struggled in the first half, shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor (10-of-35). Millikin connected on 11-of-27 attempts, good for a 40.7 shooting percentage. Despite the poor shooting, the Bluejays were led for the majority of the half, holding an eight-point edge at 23-15 with 8:45 to play. Millikin erased the Elmhurst lead when Bluejay forward Chris Martin was forced to leave the game with an injury. With Martin out, the Big Blue opened up a 9-0 run, grabbing the lead at 24-23. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the half with the lead changing hands on nine occasions. With the score knotted at 31, Chuck Williams drained a jumper with 37 seconds left to give Millikin a 33-31 halftime lead.
Martin returned to the court in the second half and the Bluejays’ offense came out smoking, outscoring Millikin 17-4 in the first five minutes taking a 48-37 lead. The Big Blue battled back to trim the Bluejays’ lead to three points at 56-53, but Elmhurst put the game out of reach with an 18-3 run, opening up an 18-point lead at 74-56 with 5:15 remaining. The Bluejays led by as many as 21 points, finishing the game with an 85-66 win.
For the game, the Bluejays shot 41.2 percent from the floor (28-of-68) while Millikin finished at 45.3 percent (24-of-54). Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with Millikin hitting 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) and Elmhurst connecting on just 1-of-14 trey attempts (7.1 percent). The Bluejays turned in another solid night at the charity stripe, converting 28-of-31 free-throw attempts (90.3 percent).
Martin led the Blueajys with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor while pulling down 13 rebounds. He added three assists and four steals as well. David Gershenzon came off the bench to drop in 20 points. Nick Michael was dominant on the glass, corralling a season and career-high 22 rebounds, including 13 offensive boards. Michael also scored 18 points.
Millikin was led by Williams 13 points. Tyler Nohren came off the bench to score 10 points.
Elmhurst will close out the regular season on Saturday (February 26), when they host Augustana College at 7:30 p.m.