The Carthage College men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its 2012-13 season on Friday, Nov. 16 with a 63-56 win over Buena Vista University (0-1) in the opening round of the Carroll University "Johnson Bank Tip-Off Tournament" at Van Male Field House in Waukesha, Wis.  No. 31 Carroll (Wis.) plays Concordia University (Wis.) at 8 p.m., with Carthage playing the winner in the Saturday, Nov. 17 championship game at 3 p.m.

Carthage jumped out to a 7-0 lead after Tyler Pierce drained a three-pointer a few minutes into the game.  The Red Men opened up a 12-point lead, 20-8, at 7:52, but the Beavers came right back with a 20-8 run of their own to pull even at halftime, 28-28.  Carthage took a 32-28 lead early in the second period, but Buena Vista took its first lead of the game, 37-34, at 15:45.  The Red Men went back up, 42-39, at 11:25 on a jumper by Mitch Thompson, but fell behind by six, 48-42, at 8:03 following a pair of free throws by Michael Kaufmann and one by Cole Darrow.  A 12-2 Carthage run put the Red Men back up by four, 54-50, at 3:52 following a another three-pointer by Pierce and a put back by Luke Johnson.  Carthage pulled away for an eight-point lead, 58-50, at 1:31 and went on to win by seven, 63-56.

Carthage shot 38 percent (21-of-55), including four-of-19 from three-point range, while Buena Vista shot just 30 percent (19-of-64), including three-of-18 three-pointers.  The Beavers had a 45-40 rebounding advantage.  Carthage's Luke Johnson (So., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy) scored a game-high 16 points on seven-of-15 field goals and two-of-three free throws, along with nine rebounds.  Donte Logan (So., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) added 13 points on just two-of-five shooting but nine-of-11 from the free-throw line, along with three assists.  Wes Nordquist topped Buena Vista with 12 points and a game-high 11 boards.

"We had a lot of ups and downs," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "and we have some things to clean up.  I'm not sure we would have won this game last year.  I'm proud of the way we played the entire second half, not only defensively, but we made some big play offensively.  Luke Johnson is just getting better and better to the point where he's going to a big star.  He bangs, and he powers.  His play in the first half probably kept us in the game.  Tyler Pierce isn't going to make a lot of three-pointers, but he'll make a few, and his game has improved tremendously.  He's a very good offensive player with a great understanding of what we want to accomplish.  Our rebounding was poor, and we got shoved under the basket.  It's the new way to play, both in the pros and in college, and it usually doesn't get called.  We have to adjust to that."