The Carthage College men's basketball team (8-10, 2-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) erased a 23-point first-half deficit on Saturday, Jan. 23 in an 85-79 win over Wheaton College (Ill., 5-13, 1-6 CCIW) at King Arena in Wheaton, Ill.  The win over the Thunder snapped a five-game Red Men losing streak.  Carthage's last win came over Millikin University in the Jan. 2 league-opener.

As has been the pattern of late, Carthage fell behind early, this time 19-2 at 14:53.  The Thunder just couldn't miss early, connecting on 11 of their first 12 field-goal attempts and extending their lead to 23 points, 28-5, at 12:59.  Still trailing by 22 points, 34-12, at 10:45, the Red Men fought their way back with a 15-2 run to pull to within nine, 36-27, at 5:24.  The Thunder led by 11 points at halftime, 48-37, and shot 54 percent in the period (14-of-26).

Carthage continued to close the gap early in the second half, pulling to within seven points, 49-42, at 17:33 on a three-pointer by Brad Kruse.  The Red Men were trailing by 11 , 54-43, at 15:37 before a 9-2 run cut the margin to four points, 56-52, at 13:19.  The Thunder went back up by 12 points, 67-55, at 9:54, but Carthage just wouldn't let go.  A 12-2 run made it a two-point game, 69-67, at 7:20 on a three-pointer by Sean Valentine. 

Finally, the Red Men took their first lead of the game, 72-71, at 5:49 on a three by Mike Stevenson.  A Stevenson jumper at 4:08 put Carthage up by five, 77-72.  Still leading by three, 80-77, Stevenson drove the lane to score with 36 seconds left, putting the Red Men up by five, 82-77.  Two free throws by Valentine with 18 seconds to play put Carthage up by seven, 84-77, and iced the victory.  The Red Men won the game by six points, 85-79.

Carthage shot 52 percent (28-of-54), including 57 percent in the second period (16-of-28) and nine-of-20 three-pointers overall, while Wheaton shot 43 percent (24-of-56), including eight-of-24 from three.  The Red Men got to free-throw line 25 times and made 20, while the Thunder converted 23-of-29.  Wheaton out-rebounded Carthage by one, 32-31.

Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) came off the bench to lead the Red Men with a career-high 27 points on seven-of-nine field goals, along with 12-of-15 from the free-throw line.  Sean Valentine (Sr., Cary, Ill./Crystal Lake-Prairie Ridge) also had a big night, coming off the bench to score a career-high 25 points on nine-of-12 field goals, including three-of-four from three-point range, along with four-of-five free throws and a game-high 11 rebounds.  "Mike Stevenson and Sean Valentine were terrific," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "We haven't had two guys score 20 points in a long time, so give those two credit."

Four Wheaton starters scored in double figures, with Michael Berg leading the way with 24 points on seven-of-nine shooting and eight-of-nine free throws.  Murad Dillard had 1y points and seven rebounds, Jonathan Berntsen 16 points and 10 assists, and Ricky Samuelson added 15 points with five boards.

"This was a good effort," said Djurickovic.  "We couldn't have played worse for the first five minutes, but I don't think we could have played better over the last 35 minutes  It's always fun to win.  Sometimes you get ahead of yourself, thinking three or four games down the road, but every game has its own personality.  Considering we've started 10 different people this year, I'm going to have to go back and figure out something else for this week.  We were just absolutely a step behind for the first five minutes of this game, and that's our fault.  There's no reason we can't back on defense.  Wheaton had more fast-break opportunities in the first eight minutes than they had in the last 32 minutes."

Carthage travels to Chicago on Wednesday, Jan. 23 to play North Park University (12-6, 4-3 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at the North Park Gym.  The Vikings were an 82-70 winner, at hoe, over Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday night.  "North Park is probably playing as well as anyone in the league, "said Djurickovic.  "That's exciting stuff for them, and they're my second-favorite team.  How many places name a court after you?  I hope they win every game they play, except when they play us."