The Carthage College men's basketball team (6-6, 0-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its CCIW-schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 4 with a 73-50 loss to North Central College (7-5, 1-0 CCIW) at Merner Fieldhouse/Gregory Arena in Naperville, Ill.

Carthage fell behind, 14-2, in the early going, as the Red Missed eight of their first nine field-goal attempts.  North Central (Ill.) extended its lead to 17 points, 27-10, at 8:59.  Carthage pulled to within 10 points, 33-23, at 2:19 but trailed by 12, 35-27,a t halftime.  The Red Men closed to within five points early in the second half, 39-34, at 16:48, before six-straight Cardinal points upped their lead to 11, 45-34, at 15:06.  Carthage was within seven points, 47-40, at 13:50, before North Central upped its lead to 16, 56-40, at 10:41 on a three-pointer by Derek Raridon and two free throws by Landon Gamble.  The Cardinals pulled way down the stretch and led by as much as 24 points, 71-47, at 2:49, cruising to a 23-point victory, 73-50.

North Central (Ill.) shot 51 percent (30-59), including seven-of-17 three-pointers, while Carthage connected at just a 35 percent clip (18-52), including eight-of-19 from three-point range.  The Cardinals out-rebounded the Red Men, 36-29, while Carthage turned the ball over 15 times to 10 times for North Central (Ill.). 

Three Cardinals scored in double figures.  Derek Raridon scored a game-high 24 points on nine-of-14 field goals, including two-of-three from three-point range, along with a perfect four-of-four from the free-throw line.  Landon Gamble had 18 points on eight-of-14 shooting, along with seven rebounds, and Aaron Tiknis added 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Luke Johnson (Fr., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy) led the Red Men with 12 points and six boards.  Max Cary (Sr., Geneva, Ill.) had 11 points, and Malcom Kelly (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored just 10 points on just four-of-14 shooting.

The Red Men play host to conference-opponent Millikin University (1-11, 0-1 CCIW) on Saturday, Jan. 7 in a 4 p.m. contest at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.