ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Carthage College Red Men captured the 2017 Webster University Classic championship on Saturday, defeating the Coe College Kohawks, 83-72.
 
The win moves the Red Men to 3-1 on the season, while Coe falls to 2-3 on the season.
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Jordan Thomas followed up a 14-point performance against Centre College with a career-high 23 points in the win, as the red-hot Thomas went 8-11 from the field and 5-8 from three.

"A good, very physical basketball game," said head coach Bosko Djurickovic after the win.  "Jordan Thomas got us off to a great start with 16 points in the 1st 10 minutes. Brad Kruse and Brad Perrycontinue to be consistent. Derek Mason gave a great lift off the bench on both ends of the floor and Sean Johnson was a defensive presence during our big second half run."
 
The Red Men led for the first ten minutes of the first half until Coe made it a back-and-forth affair the second part of the opening period.  A Brad Kruse three in the final minute of the first half gave Carthage a one-point lead heading in the break after Coe took a brief lead, 37-36.
 
The Red Men used the three-point ball in the second half to build a big lead, as deep balls by Kamal Shasi, Derek Mason, Brad Kruse and a pair by Jacob Polglase eventually built a 20-point lead for Carthage, 72-52.
 
The Kohawks mounted a late comeback behind three-straight three pointers to cut the Red Men lead to just six at 74-68, but free throws down the stretch by Brad Kruse and Brad Perry put the Red Men back in front by ten points before Derek Mason's second three of the half secured the 83-72 win.
 
Mason finished with 11 points in the second half; connecting on 4-5 field goals and 2-3 three point attempts to give him 13 points for the game.  Brad Perry was once again a force in the paint, hitting on a number of hook shots, and finishing the win with 14 points on 6-8 shooting from the field, as well as leading the Red Men with seven rebounds.
 
Kruse joined Thomas, Perry and Mason in double-figures with 11 points in the win and Mason and Shasi each had five assists to lead the Red Men on a night when Carthage dished out 20 assists on 31 made field goals in the win.
 
The Red Men will return to action on Tuesday when they visit western Wisconsin, for a non-conference matchup with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.  Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.