ELMHURST, Ill. – Jake Rhode pumped in a season-high 37 points to help lead the Elmhurst men's basketball to an 87-71 victory over Olivet College at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
Rhode finished one point shy of matching his career-high of 38 points set during the 2016-17 season. Elmhurst improved to 6-4 overall with the win while Olivet slid to 3-6 on the year.
 
The Bluejays came out red hot in the opening half, scoring the first 11 points. Rhode sparked the Elmhurst start, scoring nine of the Bluejays' first 11 points in the game's first 3:30. Olivet slowly chipped away at the Bluejays' lead and then surged in front, using a 19-3 run to open up a five-point cushion at the midway point of the half. Elmhurst responded with a 19-5 run of its own over the next six minutes to open up a 33-24 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. Olivet managed to bring the lead back down to two points with just over 90 seconds remaining. A three-pointer from Colin Bomstad and a bucket from Lavon Thomas pushed the Bluejays' lead back to seven, but a three-pointer from Dee Roberts cut Elmhurst's lead down to four (41-37) at the half.

Rhode paced Elmhurst in the opening half, netting 18 points and three assists while shooting 4-of-5 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the foul line.
 
Olivet tied the game at 48-48 three minutes into the second half, but back-to-back three's from Rhode quickly gave the Bluejays a six-point cushion. After Olivet cut the lead in half, the Bluejays rattled off the next seven points to extend their lead back to double figures at 10. Olivet made one last push, cutting the Elmhurst lead down to five with 11 minutes to play, but the Bluejays used an 8-0 run sparked by three-pointers from Rhode and Bomstad. Olivet came no closer than nine points for the remainder of the game as the Bluejays scored the game's final seven points to pull away for the 16-point victory.
 
Elmhurst shot 52.8 percent from the floor in the victory, connecting on 28-of-53 attempts. The Bluejays shot a season-best 50.0 percent from three-point distance, hitting 13-of-26 attempts. Elmhurst won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Olivet 37-25.
 
Rhode's 37 points led all scorers. The sophomore guard shot 10-of-13 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. He hit 11-of-14 free throw attempts while also totaling five assists and four steals. Derek Dotlich added 12 points and collected nine rebounds for the Bluejays. Jeremy Ireland added nine points, nine rebounds and four assists. Bomstad came off the bench to score nine while Ryan Patton and Lavon Thomas chipped in with eight points apiece.
 
Olivet finished the contest hitting 45.6 percent of its shots (26-of-57), including 31.3 percent (10-of-32) from three-point distance. Dee Roberts led the Comets in scoring with 18 while Trevor Manuel added 16 points. Tracey Edmond finished with 12 points and six assists in the loss.
 
Elmhurst plays at the D3 Desert Invitational on December 28-29 in Phoenix, Ariz.