The Carthage College men's basketball team (13-6, 6-2 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), tied for 37th place in the Jan. 28 "D3hoops.com" poll, defeated CCIW-opponent North Park University (4-15, 1-7 CCIW), 89-72, on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
The Red Men are in a three-way tie for first place in the CCIW with No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan University (16-3, 6-2 CCIW) and Wheaton College (Ill., 13-6, 6-2). No. 14 Augustana College (Ill., 15-4, 5-3) entered Wednesday night also tied for first place, but the Vikings fell at home to North Central College (10-9, 3-5 CCIW), 66-59.
North Park never trailed in the first half, and the Vikings opened up a 10-point lead, 31-21, at 6:39. North Park extended its lead to as much as 12 points on two occasions, the last time at 39-27 at 4:40. The Red Men, however, closed out the half on a 15-3 run to tie the game at the break, 42-42. Malcom Kelly came to the rescue again, scoring 11 of those 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers. The second half was all Carthage. The Red Men took their first lead of the game on the first basket of the period, and the team pulled away to a 15-point lead, 67-52, at 8:11. Carthage continued to pull away, leading by as much as 20 points on two occasions and going on to win by 17, 89-72. The Red Men out-scored the Vikings in the second half, 47-30.
Carthage shot 55 percent (27-49), including 12-of-19 three-pointers, while North Park shot 43 percent (24-56), including seven-of-17 from three-point range. The Red Men got to the free-throw line 33 times and made 23, while the Vikings connected on 17-of-22 free throws. Carthage out-rebounded North Park, 34-28.
Three Carthage starters scored in double figures. Malcom Kelly (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored a game-high 22 points on eight-of-14 field goals, including three-of-six three-pointers, and three-of-three free throws, along with five rebounds. Kevin Sykes Jr.. (Sr., Tinley Park, Ill./Frankfort—Lincoln-Way North) scored 20 points on five-of-nine shooting, including three-of-five from three-point range and seven-of-11 free throws, along with four rebounds and three assists. Marlon Senior (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) had 18 points and seven boards before fouling out, and Reese Herth (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) came off the bench to add 13 points. Juwan Henry led North Park with 20 points, and Aaron Weaver chipped in 15 points and seven boards.
"We were not sharp in the first half" said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "Give North Park credit. They have a record that you would not want to have, but they continue to play everyone tough. You look at their conference resumé, and they've been ahead at halftime three or four times. They're a tough team to play. They're going to win a few games in the second half, and I'm glad to be done with them. We didn't read them very well in the first half, but we did a much-better job in the second half. We ran their people off very well in the second half. Malcom Kelly has been fantastic the past few weeks. He's been the leader in games, and he wants this more than anyone. His percentages of correct play has just been ridiculously good. Our next two games, at North Central and at Wheaton, are now really big games if we want to compete for a conference championship."
Carthage travels to Naperville, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 1 to play CCIW-opponent North Central College (10-9, 3-5 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at Gregory Arena at Merner Fieldhouse.