The Millikin men's basketball team opened play in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 71-59 win over Carthage College on Jan. 2 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill.  Millikin is now 5-7, 1-0 while Carthage goes to 5-7, 0-1.

          Millikin's Mitch Wilfer opened the game with a driving bucket to put the Big Blue on top and Millikin would never trail in the game.  Millikin built a 33-28 advantage at the half and had its largest lead of the game at 20 points on a Trent Windemuller three-pointer with 7:30 left in the game.

          The Big Blue shot 39 percent from the field holding the Red Men to only 33 percent.  Millikin was 9-18 (50 percent) from behind the three-point arc while Carthage struggled hitting only 2-19 (10.5 percent).  Millikin hit on 18-29 from the free throw line and Carthage connected on 11-22 from the line.  Millikin won the rebounding battle 46-45.  The Big Blue committed 12 turnovers and Carthage committed 11.

          Millikin had a balanced attack with four players in double figures.  Trent Windemuller had 16 points and five rebounds.  Tommy Pilackas also had 16 points with four assists and two rebounds.  Jaylon Owens had a double double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  TJ Griffin also had 10 points along with five assists and four rebounds.

          Carthage got 19 points and eight rebounds from Tyler Pierce.  Marlon Senior led the Red Men with 10 rebounds and scored seven points.

          The Big Blue victory broke a 16 game Carthage winning streak in the series between the two schools.  Millikin's freshmen dominated team put the conference on noticed that the Big Blue are a team that can't be overlooked.

          Millikin will travel to North Park on Saturday, Jan. 5 for a 4 p.m. game.  The Vikings opened CCIW play with an 89-54 loss at Augustana.