| Maz Cary led Carthage with 20
points in its exhibition win. Carthage athletics file photo by Mike Gryniewicz |
The Carthage men's basketball team defeated Division I Northern Illinois 74-70 in overtime in an exhibition game Friday evening at the NIU Convocation Center. Carthage connected on 13 three-pointers in the contest and shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from beyond the arc in the second half.
The Red Men were trailing, 64-61, when Malcom Kelly hit one of his five three-pointers, tying the game with 46 seconds left and sending it into overtime. Another Kelly trey at 3:26 in overtime gave Carthage the lead, for good, at 69-66. The Red Men led by as many as six points in the extra period and went on to win by four.
Carthage shot 43 percent (27-63), while Northern Illinois connected for just 32 percent (21-65). The Huskies outrebounded the Red Men, 48-39.
Max Cary topped the Red Men with 20 points on seven-of-13 field goals, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Freshman Luke Johnson had 19 points on eight-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 three pointers, along with nine rebounds. Kelly had 16 points on five-of-19 field goals, including five-of-13 from three-point range. Mitch Thompson, while limited to five points, pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Abdel Nader led Northern Illinois with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Tim Toler had 17 points and seven boards.
"We just didn't come out ready to go in the second half," NIU head coach Mark Montgomery said. "We have a young team; there were times when we had four or five freshmen on the floor, so we will take this as a learning experience and we have to get better."
Carthage jumped out to an early, 10-0 lead before falling behind midway through the first period. The Red Men's last lead of the half was 12-11 at 10:22. Carthage trailed by 13 points at halftime, 32-19. The Red Men fell behind by 15 points early in the second half, 34-19, at 19:23. A three-pointer by Kelly at 15:08 capped a 19-3 Carthage comeback and gave the Red Men a one-point lead at 38-37. Carthage led by as much as seven, 54-47, at 8:11 A pair of free throws by the Huskies' Keith Gray at 4:19 knotted the game at 58-58 and Northern Illinois edged the lead out to three before Kelly's long-distance heroics.