The Carthage College men's basketball team (10-9, 5-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) won its fourth game in a row and its fifth out of its last six with a 71-47 victory over CCIW-opponent Millikin University on Saturday night, Jan. 26 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Carthage jumped out to a 12-point lead, 20-8, at 12:10, and the Red Men's lead never went below double digits. Carthage led by as much as 20 points in the first half, 34-14, with 46 seconds left and led by 19 at halftime, 34-15. The margin went 28 points, 54-26, at 9:34 second period, as the Red Men cruised to a 24-point decision, 71-47.
Carthage shot 47 percent (22-47), including just six-of-14 three-pointers, while Millikin shot just 30 percent (18-61), including four-of-19 from three-point range. The Red Men got to the free-throw line 25 times and made 21, while the Big Blue connected on seven-of-13 from the free-throw line. Millikin had a 39-35 rebounding advantage.
Three Carthage players scored in double figures. Reese Herth (So., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) scored a career-high 24 points on nine-of-12 field goals, including two-of-four from three-point range, along with four-of-five free throws. Marlon Senior (Jr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) had 13 points and five rebounds, and Mitch Thompson (Sr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Carthage's leading scorer, Tyler Pierce (Sr., Westmont, Ill.), returned to action after missing the last four games, and chipped in nine points and six boards. Deavis Johnson led the Big Blue with game highs of 20 points and nine rebounds.
"Our guys are starting to feel pretty good about themselves. Whether they can carry this on for seven or eight games, I don't know, but these guys are hungry, and they're playing well together. In the first half, they could not have played any better or any harder, especially defensively. The last time, at Millikin, we let them play an open-court game. This time we played them differently. Reese Herth is still a long way from being consistent, night in and night out, but his talent level and his intelligence level is off the charts. If he can put it together three nights out of four, he's going to be a really good player, because very few guards in this league have his explosiveness. Tonight, he was wonderful on both ends of the floor. We're on a two-game road swing now to North Central and Augustana, and North Central is an outstanding team. Our guys think they can win that game."
Carthage travels to Naperville, Ill., on Wednesday, Jan. 30 to take on conference-opponent and No. 5 North Central College (16-3, 5-3 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at Gregory Arena at Merner Fieldhouse.