ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team opened CCIW play with a 64-58 win over Carroll University.
 
The tightly contested matchup featured eight lead changes before Elmhurst (4-1/1-0 CCIW) built a lead and held off Carroll (2-3/0-1 CCIW) for the victory.
 
Carroll started quickly, building a six-point cushion with just over seven minutes gone by in the opening half. Elmhurst answered back with a 9-0 run fueled by five points from Lance Gardner and four from Peyton Sampson. The Bluejays slowly pushed their lead up seven points on two occasions in the opening half only to see Carroll battle back. The Pioneers closed a seven-point deficit down to two with 1:26 remaining, but four straight points from the Bluejays gave Elmhurst a 35-29 lead with just over two seconds left. Ben Widdes hit two free throw shots after he was fouled at the buzzer to bring Carroll to within four (35-31) at the half.
 
Once again, the Pioneers started quickly at the start of the second half. Carroll used a 10-2 run to start the half to take 41-37 lead following a Ray Pierce layup with 16:18 remaining. A bucket from Jeremy Ireland and a three-pointer from Derek Dotlich gave the Bluejays the lead for good with just under 15 minutes left on the clock. Leading by one with 10:22 left to play, Elmhurst used an 8-0 run to push its lead up to nine points with eight minutes remaining.
 
Carroll clawed its way back into the contest, pulling to within two points with four minutes remaining following a tip-in from Pierce. The Pioneers missed their next three shots as Elmhurst slowly built a seven-point lead thanks to three free throws and a layup from Ryan Patton. Carroll sliced the lead back down to four with just over a minute remaining, but the Bluejays hit two free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
 
Elmhurst shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point distance. The Bluejays enjoyed a slim 41-38 edge in rebounding while struggling from the foul line, hitting just 11-of-21 attempts (52.4 percent). Carroll shot just 37.5 percent (21-of-56) and was ice cold from three-point range, hitting just 2-of-19 attempts (10.5 percent).
 
Gardner and Dotlich both flirted with double-doubles while leading Elmhurst in the victory. The two players totaled 15 points apiece while Gardner collected nine rebounds and Dotlich secured eight. Ireland added nine points and seven rebounds while Jake Rhode totaled seven points and three assists.
 
Pierce led Carroll in the loss, coming off the bench to score a team-best 15 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Joel Heesch finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Widdes totaled eight points and eight boards.
 
Elmhurst travels to Millikin University on Wednesday, December 6.