Carthage Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team outscored Carthage College 41-21 in the second half en route to a 76-53 victory.

With the win, Elmhurst (ranked 21st in the latest D3hoops.com poll) ran its record to 19-6 overall and 10-4 in league play. The Bluejays will be the number two seed in next weekend's CCIW Tournament.

After trailing for the majority of the first half, Elmhurst battled back to knot the score at 20-all.  The Bluejays built a six point first half lead and led 35-32 at the break.

The second half belonged to the Bluejays as Elmhurst started the half on a 13-1 run to take a 48-33 lead with 15 minutes to play. Carthage (15-10, 7-7 CCIW) cut the lead down to nine points, but a 15-0 run by the Bluejays gave Elmhurst a 65-41 edge with 7:44 left. The Bluejays were able to cruise to the 76-53 win the rest of the way.

Elmhurst shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from 3-point range. Carthage struggled with its shooting, hitting only 35.4 percent (17-of-48) of its shots. The Red Men shot only 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from beyond the arc.

The Bluejays dominated the Red Men on the glass, outrebounding Carthage 40-21.

Ryan Burks led Elmhurst with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Brent Ruch finished with 13 points and eight rebounds while Dustin Bainter totaled seven points and four assists. Matt Bernier and Zack Boyd scored eight points apiece while Robert Strzemp and Aaron Hintzsche added six points each. Hintzsche added seven rebounds in the victory.

Carthage was led by Steve Djurickovic's 15 points and seven assists. Max Cary came off the bench to score 11 while Sean Fendley added 10 points for the Red Men.

Elmhurst will face third-seeded Augustana College in the first round of the CCIW Tournament on Friday, February 27, at 6:00 p.m.  Top-seeded and tournament host Wheaton College will square off with fourth-seeded North Central College  in the tournament's second game at 8:00 p.m.