The Carthage College men's basketball team (2-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) escaped with a 59-56 win over Northland College (0-3) on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 21 at the Kendrigan Center in Ashland, Wis.

Carthage opened up an eight-point lead in the first half, 22-14, at 6:25.  Northland whittled the lead to a single point late in the first half, and the Lumberjacks trailed by one at the break, 26-25.  Northland took its first lead since the game's opening minutes, 28-26, on a three-pointer by Dan Campion to open the second half.  The Lumberjacks still led by three, 39-36, at 12:34, and clung to a one-point lead, 45-44, at 7:00. 

Northland tied the game, 53-53, at 1:09 on a pair of free throws by Bryshaun Brown, but a three-pointer from the left corner by Carthage's Mike Leazer with 35 seconds to play gave Carthage the lead for good, 56-53.  Campion attempted a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining, but the Red Men rebounded and, Jordon Kedrowski made the front end of a one-and-one for a 57-53 lead.  

The Lumberjacks' Aaron Houle answered with a three at 5.6 seconds to make it a one-point game, 57-56.  Leazer hit both ends of a one-and-one with 4.6 seconds to go, and Carthage led by three, 59-56.  Campion's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was wide, and the Red Men escaped with a three-point victory.

Neither team shot well.  Carthage shot just 33 percent (17-51), including five-of-19 from three-point range, while Northland shot 32 percent (19-59), including just eight-of-27 threes.  The Red Men got to the free-throw line 27 times and made 20, while the Lumberjacks connected on 10-of-13.  Northland out-rebounded Carthage by five, 38-33.

Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) was the lone Carthage player in double figures with 18 points on three-of-eight field goals, along with 11-of-12 free throws and five rebounds.  Bryshaun Brown led Northland with a game-high 19 points on six-of-14 shooting, five-of-five free throws and seven rebounds.

"This was one of those games if you put a picture on a scorecard, we wouldn't have been happy," admitted Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "We got a road win, though, so we'll take that and go back to work.  Mike Leazer was excellent tonight.  He was very live defensively, he tipped some balls, and he made some major shots for us.  He might have been the difference in the second half.  We have some depth.  We don't have a superstar at this point, so everyone has to chip in and get the job done.  Tonight, it was Mike Leazer and also Mike Stevenson on the offensive end.  Myles Olson, also played well, even if didn't show up in the stat sheet.  Northland is a well-coached basketball team, and they play hard, but we know we have to play better than this."

Following Saturday's six and one-half hour bus ride home, Carthage faces another long journey on Tuesday, Nov. 24 when the Red Men travel to Olivet, Mich., to take on Olivet College (0-4) at the Cutler Event Center.  The Comets were a 105-57 loser to NCAA Division II Grand Valley State University on Friday in Allendale, Mich.