After trailing 5-4 in the opening minutes, Carthage opened up a 10-0 run to take a nine-point advantage at 14-5, establishing a lead they would never relinquish. The Redmen pushed their lead to as many as 10 points in the first half, leading 24-14 and 26-16. Elmhurst closed the lead to two points with 2:46 to play in the half after a 10-2 run. The Redmen led by six points at 32-26 with 58 seconds to play. A lay-up by Nick Michael cut the lead to four points with just over 30 seconds to play in the half. An off balance three-pointer at the buzzer by Kevin Menard gave Carthage a 35-28 advantage at halftime.
In the half, Carthage shot lights-out, hitting 63.6 percent of its shots from the floor (14-of-22) and 5-of-9 of its 3-point attempts (55.6 percent). The Bluejays shot 40 percent from the floor (10-of-25) and 30 percent (3-of-10) from 3-point range.
In the early minutes of the second half, the Bluejays began chipping away at the Redmen lead. After trailing by seven points, the Bluejays cut the Carthage lead to 40-38 with 16:25 to play on three straight baskets from Chris Martin.
Carthage responded immediately, opening up an 8-0 run and taking a commanding 10 point lead. The Redmen established a 15-point advantage, their biggest lead of the night, at 55-40 with 11:59 to play. Elmhurst managed to trim into the Carthage lead, closing to seven points at 60-53 with 8:20 to play in the game, but they could get no closer as Carthage iced the game from the free-throw line.
For the game, Carthage shot 55.3 percent from the floor (26-of-47) and a whopping 55.6 percent from 3-point range (10-of-18). The Redmen also hit 16-of-22 free-throw attempts (72.7 percent). Elmhurst shot an even 50 percent from the floor (27-of-54) but just 25 percent from 3-point range (5-of-20). The Bluejays converted 7-of-9 free throw attempts (77.8 percent.). Carthage had a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding Elmhurst 29-23.
David Gershenzon came off the bench and scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lead the Bluejays. Martin netted 14 points, five rebounds and six assists in the loss while Michael finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Carthage was led by freshman Kyle Jeffrey’s 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting (3-of-5 from 3-point range). Pat Kalamatas saw his first action after returning from an injurst and netted 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Navarro Thompson came off the bench to score 12 points and Menard added 11 points in the win.
Elmhurst will travel to Bloomington on Saturday, January 8, where they will face defending CCIW Champion Illinois Wesleyan University at 7:30 p.m.