The Carthage College men's basketball team (15-9, 8-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) stayed alive in its bid for a berth in the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament with a 79-70 win over North Park University (10-14, 4-9 CCIW) on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the North Park Gym in Chicago.
Carthage used a 13-3 run to take a 20-10 lead at 10:57 first half, with Steve Djurickovic scoring nine of the first 20 points. After the Vikings cut the lead to five, 23-18, at 4:58, the Red Men went back up by 10, 28-18, at 3:47. After North Park closed to within five again, 28-23, at 2:55, Carthage took a 13-point lead, 36-23, at 1:11. The Red Men led by 11 points at the break, 38-27. Steve Djurickovic had 18 first-half points, while Mitch Thompson collected a first-half "double-double" with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Carthage upped its lead to 15 points in the second half, 48-33, at 16:50. North Park made it a nine-point game, 48-39, at 15:01, before Carthage went back up by 13, 54-41, at 13:15. Following a technical and a fifth personal foul on Carthage's David Mariani, The Vikings pulled to within six points on several occasions, the last at 69-63 at 3:25, but the Red Men went on to win by nine points, 79-70.
Carthage shot 47 percent (26-55), including nine-of-18 from three-point range, while North Park shot 40 percent (25-63), including eight-of-19 three-pointers. The Vikings out-rebounded the Red Men, 41-37, but Carthage turned the ball over just eight times.
The Red Men's Steve Djurickovic (Sr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) scored a game-high 30 points on nine-of-16 field goals, including three-of-four three-pointers, along with nine-of-11 from the free-throw line and eight assists. Mitch Thompson (So., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had a monster career game with 22 points and 19 rebounds, both career highs. Thompson scored on nine-of-12 from the floor, including four-of-five from three-point range. Malcom Kelly (So., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) chipped in 11 points.
Clayton Cahill led North Park with 23 points on eight-of-13 shooting, including six-of-nine three pointers, while Emmanuel Crosby had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
"North Park is always a fun place to play," said coach Bosko Djurickovic. "There is not a better venue in the league. It's not the greatest building, but the jump on the floor and to shoot the basketball here is as good as there is, and that hasn't changed over the years. We played well tonight. Mitch Thompson had a monster game. His last four or five games have been absolutely off-the-charts good. He's moving better, and he's rebounding above the rim. Steve Djurickovic was good, and Malcom Kelly had a nice second half. It was a good, solid effort. North Park was pesky and kept things close. We always had an answer when it got close. Our practices the last two weeks have been as good as they've been in a long time. After the second Wheaton game, the guys re-dedicated themselves to be the more aggressive team on the court. Who knows what the future holds, but you can't be any more proud of this team than I am. They have persevered, and that wasn't easy. We stubbed our toes a few times, but to finish the way we have is a credit to the guys on the team.
"Senior Day will be bittersweet on Saturday," concluded Djurickovic. "Jon Cieski and Dave Mariani have both done very good jobs I n our program. Steve Djurickovic might not only be the greatest players in Carthage history, but maybe one of the best guards in the history of the league. We hope to be playing next Friday night, but if it doesn't work out, we've still acquitted ourselves with a great deal of class at the end of the season."
On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Red Men close out their regular-season schedule by playing host to conference-opponent Millikin University in a 4:30 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.