For 30 minutes and change, it looked like a major upset might be in the works, but No. 7 Benedictine University (Ill.. 11-0) hung on to beat the Carthage College men's basketball team (6-5, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), 82-78, on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at the Dan & Ada Rice Center in Lisle, Ill. 

The first half was close, with Benedictine leading by no more than six points, 18-12, at 9:57.  A three-point play by Carthage's Tony Pierce Jr. at 5:05, followed by a Pierce three-pointer at 4:35, gave the Red Men a brief lead, 28-27.  Carthage also led by a point, 30-29, at 3:50 before Benedictine eased out to a three-point lead at halftime, 38-35.  Pierce scored 15 points in the first period, including a perfect eight-of-eight free throws.

Carthage tied the game, 38-38, in the opening seconds of the second half on a three-pointer by Jordon Kedrowski.  The Red Men took a four-point lead, 49-45, at 15:23 on a Pierce three-pointer.  Carthage's last lead was 51-48 at 14:28.  The Eagles re-gained the lead, 53-51, at 13:20, and a slight-of-hand three-point play by Michael Blaszczyk at 12:01 put Benedictine up by five, 58-53. 

Following a tie at 53-53, the Eagles finally pulled away with a 15-3 run to extend their lead to 12 points, 68-56, at 7:52.  Then, just when it seemed that Benedictine was going to put the game away, Carthage got back into it.  Kedrowski scored on a reverse layup at 3:08, converted a three-point play at 2:44, and suddenly it was a four-point game, 75-71. 

With the Eagles leading by five, 78-73, Carthage's Brad Kruse missed a pair of free throws at 1:51 that could have cut the lead to three.  Kedrowski had another chance to make it a three-point game, but he missed the second-of-two free throws with 34 seconds left to make it a four-point contest, 78-74.  Pierce did cut the lead to three, 79-76, with two free throws at the 18-second mark.  An uncontested layup by Pierce with five seconds remaining cut the lead to two points, 80-78, but the Eagles hung on to win by four, 82-78.

Benedictine shot 49 percent (29-59), including just three-of-13 from three-point range, while Carthage shot just 39 percent (26-67), including seven-of-29 three-pointers.  The Eagles got to free-throw line 29 times and made 21, while the Red Men converted 19-of-28.  Benedictine had a 43-36 rebounding edge.

Three Benedictine starters players scored in double figures, with Tahron Harvey leading the way with 19 points on six-of-12 field goals, along with six-of-six free throws and five rebounds.  John Dodson had 16 points on six-of-13 shooting, along with five boards, and Michael Blaszczyk also had 16 points and five rebounds.  Carthage's Tony Pierce Jr. (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) scored a game-high 27 points on seven-of-14 field goals, along with 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.  Jordon Kedrowski (Fr., Bolingbrook Ill./Downers Grove-North) had 12 points, and Sean Valentine (Sr., Cary, Ill./Crystal Lake-Prairie Ridge) came off the bench to add 10 points and four rebounds.

 "You can't accept moral victories," said Carthage head coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "but that's we got.  We had every right to win this game, but we didn't.  I thought we had a couple of very-focused practices, and we made them earn their baskets the way we wanted them to.  In the second half, we made a couple of shooting decisions that we wish we had back.  We rushed a couple of shots, and they converted at the other end.  When you're playing a good team like Benedictine, you have to make good decisions every time down the floor.  Benedictine is a very good basketball team, and we probably gave them more difficulty than usual with our guards spacing the floor like we do.  But they're really good, and they might not lose a game until March."

Carthage launches its conference schedule by playing host to Millikin University (6-5, 0-0 CCIW) on Saturday, Jan. 2 in a 4 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  "Now it's conference play," said Djurickovic, "and there are no more days off.  Millikin is not going to be easy, and we need to get off to a good start"  The Big Blue enter the Carthage game following a two-week break.  Millikin last played on Dec. 20, winning a 62-57 game over Albion College at the Trine University "St. Andrews Products Classic."