The Carthage College men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its 2013-14 season on Friday, Nov. 22 with an 84-78 win over Alma College (0-4) in the first round of the Carthage Classic at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. The University of Dubuque (4-0) defeated Benedictine University (Ill., 0-2), 79-76, in the other first-round game, as the Spartans' Andre Norris scored 27 points with nine rebounds. Benedictine (Ill.) takes on Alma in the Saturday, Nov. 23 consolation game at 1 p.m., with Carthage playing Dubuque in the title game at 3 p.m.
Carthage never trailed in the first half. The jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes. Alma pulled to within a point, 14-13, at 10:29, but Carthage went back up by 11, 28-17, at 5:17. The Scots closed to within three, 33-30, with 54 seconds left in the half, but the Red Men led by six at the break, 36-30. Alma tied the game, 37-37, at 18:08, before a 17-6 Carthage run gave the Red Men an 11-point lead, 54-43, at 11:58. The lead went to 13 points on four occasions before the Scots pulled to within five, 79-74, with 30 seconds to play. The Red Men went on to win by six, 84-78.
Carthage shot just 40 percent (25-63), including five-of-16 three-pointers, while Alma shot 52 percent (32-62), including five-of-19 from three-point range. Carthage got to the free-throw line 39 times and made 29, while Alma was nine-of-11 from the line. The Scots out-rebounded the Red Men, 45-27, but turned the ball over 18 times to just four for Carthage. Four Red Men starters scored in double figures, with Marlon Senior (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) leading the way with 17 points on six-of-11 shooting and five-of-seven free throws, along with six rebounds. Kevin Sykes Jr., (Sr., Tinley Park, Ill./Frankfort—Lincoln-Way North) had 16 points, Reese Herth (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) 13 points and Donte Logan (Jr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) 12 points with four assists. Jason Scott (Fr., Chicago Heights, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) came off the bench to add 10 points. Isiah Law led Alma with a game-high 20 points on eight-of-13 field goals and nine rebounds.
"Two and one-half months from now," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "nobody is going to remember how this game was played. Our execution was very, very poor in all areas. We got off to nice start, and that gave us a false sense of security. Alma plays hard and plays smart, and they targeted certain players on our team. We couldn't keep people in front of us, defensively, and you can't press that way. The two freshmen, Jason Scott and Scott McNellis played well. Mike Kastel, the big guy, is a work in progress, as he tries to knock the rust off his game. Alma out-rebounded us by 18 tonight, and we have to play a more-cohesive game with the games we have coming up. I thought we had eliminated some of the up-and-down glitches during pre-season practice."