The Carthage College men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked fifth in the pre-season "D3hoops.com" poll opened its 2010-11 season on Tuesday, Nov. 16 with an easy, 74-33 win over Calumet College of St. Joseph (3-4) at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Calumet had an 8-6 lead at 13:49. The Red Men took the lead, for good, 9-8, at 12:48 and opened up an 11-point lead at halftime, 29-18. The second half was all Carthage defense, as the Crimson Wave was outscored, 45-15. The Red Men pulled away to a 20-point lead, 43-23, at 13:49 and a 32-point lead, 59-27, at 7:45. Carthage led by as much as 41 points, 70-29, at 5:31 and went on to win by that 41-point margin, 74-33.
Carthage shot 41 percent (26-63), while Calumet shot just 26 percent (14-54), including an ice-cold 14 percent (5-31) in the second half. Four Carthage players scored in double figures. Malcom Kelly (So., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) led the way with 15 points on five-of-10 field goals, including two-of-six three-pointers and three-of-three free throws. Mitch Thompson (So., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had 13 points and six rebounds. Steve Djurickovic (Sr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) had 12 points on just three-of-11 shooting, but he dished out 13 assists, which tied his own school game record set against Elmhurst College on Jan. 13, 2010. Tyler Pierce (So., Westmont, Ill.) chipped in 10 points.
"It was an excellent opening game to play," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "because the score didn't reflect the quality of the game. Calumet of St. Joseph is actually a pretty good basketball team. They've played some strong teams in close games. Once we were able to extend the lead in the second half, then we took our game to a different level. We didn't shoot the ball worth a lick tonight. When that happens, you have to dig and do some of the other things, but we're a much better defensive team than last year. We're going to be an offensive-minded team most nights. We'd rather play a 95-70 game than one of these. The freshmen looked good tonight, but all of them are a work in progress. Hopefully, we won't have to depend on them as much as we depended on last year's freshmen class."
On Friday-Saturday, Nov. 19-20, the Red Men play host to the Carthage Classic, also at Tarble Arena. On Friday, Nov. 19, John Carroll University (1-0) plays Indiana University-Northwest (0-7) at 6 p.m. , followed by Carthage versus Bethany Lutheran College (1-1) at 8 p.m. The Saturday, Nov. 20 consolation game starts at 1 p.m., followed by the championship game at 3 p.m.