DECATUR, Ill. – The Carthage College men's basketball team stunned the home Millikin University Big Blue on Saturday, as the Red Men overcame a 19-point halftime deficit with an end of regulation buzzer beater before winning in overtime on the road, 92-81.
 
The win improves the Red Men to 10-7 on the year and to 5-3 in the CCIW, while the Big Blue fall to 8-9 on the season and to 1-7 in the conference.
 
"Had the feel of a few of our games last year in the CCIW," said head coach Bosko Djurickovic following the win.  "We did not play well in the first half.  We couldn't shoot.  We couldn't rebound.  We committed far too many turnovers.  Second half was much, much better!  Brad Kruse and Kienan Baltimore played outstanding tonight with Jordan Thomas picking us up in overtime.  Moving forward we need to stop digging ourselves holes to have a chance at playing beyond the regular season. It was not the prettiest of wins, but at 5-3 after the first half of the conference season we will take it."

Rebounding was the story of the first half, which unfortunately for the Carthage, was controlled by Millikin.  The Big Blue owned the glass with 22 rebounds to just 11 for the Red Men.  The Red Men also struggled shooting the ball in the opening 20 minutes.  Brad Perry and Brad Krusecombined for all seven of the Red Men's first half field goals, as Carthage shot just 36.8% on 7-19 from the field. 
 
Carthage ramped up their defense out of the gate to open the second half, pairing a 6-14 shooting start to open the second 20 minutes and forcing seven turnovers during an 18-4 run in the first 6:15 to cut the deficit to five, 46-41.
 
Millikin was able to sustain the run and pushed their lead back to 11 before Carthage once again began to chip away.  A 13-3 run over 3:15 made it a one-point game, 66-65, with 4:00 left in regulation.  As they did before, Millikin extended their lead to seven following a pair of three-point possessions.
 
Trailing by seven, Kienan Baltimore had a 5-0 run of his own to pull the Red Men back to within one possession following a strong and-one play with 45-seconds remaining.  After 1-2 free throws by the Big Blue, Brad Kruse drove and drew a foul on a made jumper. He however missed the ensuing free throw to keep it at a one-point game.
 
Following a pair of Millikin free throws and down three with time running out, Steve Leazer got his defender off his feet and sent a three that fell long off the rim.  Brad Kruse chased down the long rebound, ran behind the three-point line in the corner, hit a fade-away as time expired to tie the game at 75-75 and to force overtime.
 
Off the overtime tip the Red Men took the lead as an immediate foul sent Leazer to the line, where he connected on 1-of-2, giving the Red Men the lead for the first time since the 14:41 mark of the first half following a Brad Perry dunk.  Carthage never trailed from that point behind a 5-6 shooting performance from the Red Men in overtime and being led by Jordan Thomas with ten points in the extra frame and an emphatic dunk from Sean Johnson sealed the win.  The Red Men outscored Millikin in overtime 17-6.
 
Four Red Men scored in double-figures with Brad Kruse leading the way with a game and career-high 27 points, including 20 coming in the second half and overtime.  Joining Kruse was Baltimore with 19 points, as he also had a strong second half, scoring 17 points after the break before fouling out.  Jordan Thomas finished with 20 points and Brad Perry added 11 to round out the top scorers for the Red Men.
 
As a team, the Red Men overcame their shooting woes in the first half to finish 30-61 from the field at 49.2% and turned 21 Millikin turnovers into 20 points. 
 
Carthage will return to action following their midweek bye on Wednesday, as they hit the road again next weekend to start the second half of the conference season at Augustana College.  The Red Men are slated to tip at 7:00 p.m. from Rock Island, Illinois.