LISLE, Ill. – Jake Rhode and Derek Dotlich combined to score 56 points to lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to a 97-90 overtime win at Benedictine University.
 
Elmhurst improved to 6-3 on the season with the victory while Benedictine dropped to 6-4 overall.
 
The Bluejays led by as many as eight points in the first half and carried a 48-42 lead into halftime. Elmhurst pushed its lead up to 10 points four minutes into the second half, before Benedictine surged back with a rally. The Eagles ripped off a 23-6 run over the next six minutes to open up a 67-60 lead with just nine minutes left to play.
 
The Bluejays pulled even at 71-all with five minutes left after Rhode knocked down a three-pointer. Trailing by one late in the contest, Rhode knocked down a jumped to put the Bluejays up 79-78 with 1:07 left. A Jens Soderholm three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining gave the Eagles a two-point advantage at 81-79. After a missed three-pointer from the Bluejays, Benedictine missed a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left. Dotlich hit the game-tying layup with just 14 seconds left on the clock and then blocked the potential game-winning layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 81-81.
 
Benedictine grabbed an 87-86 lead with 3:30 left in overtime, but a layup from Dotlich, a jumper from Jeremy Ireland and a jumper from Rhode put the Bluejays up 92-87 with 1:16 left. Three free throws from Elmhurst over the next 45 seconds extended Elmhurst's lead up to eight points with 23 seconds. Benedictine cut the lead down to five with a three-pointer, but Dotlich hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the win for the Bluejays.
 
The Bluejays shot 48.1 percent (37-of-77) from the floor, including 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from three-point range. Rhode finished with a team-leading 29 points, shooting 11-of-16 from the floor, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Dotlich pumped in a career-high 27 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line. Ireland added a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while Lance Gardner came off the bench to total nine points and seven rebounds.
 
The Eagles shot 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from the floor, but only 33.3 percent (10-of-30) from three-point range. Brayden Olson paced Benedictine with a game-high 36 points. Olson shot 13-of-21 from the field and dished out five assists. Soderholm came off the bench to score 18 while Kenny Bogus added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Eric Grygo added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Elmhurst plays at Pacific University on December 29.