The Carthage College men's basketball team (10-15, 5-9 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) closed out its season on Saturday, Feb. 21 with 70-68 win, in overtime, over CCIW-opponent Millikin University (8-17, 3-11 CCIW) at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Ill. Even with the win and a season-ending three-game winning streak, it was the Red Men's worst season since the 1996 squad went 5-20.
Millikin led by four points at halftime, 24-20. The Big Blue opened the second half with a 15-7 run to take a 12-point lead, 39-27, at 14:45. Millikin still led by 11 points, 45-34, at 12:12 before Carthage came back with a 21-8 run to take a 55-53 lead at 5:23. Donte Logan broke a 59-59 tie in regulation with a layup at the 15-second mark, but T.J. Sims sent the game into overtime with a put back layup with four seconds remaining.
The Big Blue took a three-point lead in overtime, 66-63, at 3:26, but a jumper by Ellis Matthews at 1:57 and a three-pointer by Myles Olson at 1:02 gave Carthage a 68-66 lead. Olson made a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to overcome a last-second layup by Sims for the final, 70-68 margin.
Carthage shot 47 percent (28-60), including five-of-19 three-pointers, while Millikin shot 45 percent (22-49), including five-of-15 three-pointers The Red Men got to the free-throw line 14 times and made nine, while the Big Blue connected on 19-of-20 free throws. Millikin out-rebounded Carthage by a 33-27 margin.
Ellis Matthews (Jr., Libertyville, Ill.) led the Red Men with 18 points on seven-of-12 field goals, including two-of-six three-pointers. Myles Olson (Jr., East Troy, Wis./East Troy) came off the bench to score 15 points on four-of-seven shooting, including two-of-four from three-point range, along with a perfect five-of-five free throws. Mike Stevenson (So., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) also came off the bench to score 14 points on six-of-10 field goals, along with five rebounds. Donte Logan (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) chipped in 10 points with six assists. T.J. Sims led the Big Blue with 22 points on eight-of-16 field goals, including four-of-seven three-pointers, along with five boards.
"This game does not get played like this in most NCAA Division III conferences," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "This was two teams playing for pride, and it was as competitive and as physical a game as you can imagine. We're thrilled to win this one. We're proud to be a part of this league, and I'm proud of how our guys finished the season. It was weird season, and there was no way to predict what the league scores were going to be, night in and night out. The league was really good this year, top to bottom. We have some good players, and I know we'll be significantly better next year. There's no guarantee of that unless we do a better job of recruiting. We were just under-manned this year, and that's on me. We have to have an exceptional recruiting class this year, and I have no doubt that we will."