ELMHURST, Ill. – Derek Dotlich came off the bench to score 18 points and lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to a 70-64 win over Carthage College at R.A. Faganel Hall.

Elmhurst snapped a five-game skid with the victory, upping its record to 12-11 overall and 5-9 in the CCIW. Carthage slid to 12-10 overall and 7-6 in league play with the loss.
 
Carthage jumped out to a 6-2 lead three minutes into the contest, but Elmhurst took over the remainder of the half. Elmhurst ripped off the next 13 points to open up a 15-6 lead with 11:41 left in the half. The Bluejays opened up a 14-point cushion with eight minutes left before Carthage sliced the lead in half with 3:38 remaining. An 8-0 run sparked by eight straight points from Derek Dotlich gave Elmhurst its largest lead of the half at 40-25 with just over a minute remaining. Carthage scored the final five points of the half to pull to within ten points (40-30) at halftime. Dotlich came off the bench to spark the Bluejays in the opening half, finishing the half with 14 points in just 12 minutes of action. He connected on four three-pointers in the half.
 
Elmhurst quickly pushed their lead up to 14 points early in the second half before Carthage mounted a rally. Carthage used a 10-1 run to pull to within five points with 12:20 left to play, but a layup from Jake Rhode and a three-pointer from Lance Gardner pushed Elmhurst back up by 10. The Bluejays led by 11 with 3:39 left to play but Carthage mounted last one push. The Red Men cut the deficit down to six points with 1:47 remaining, but a pair of free throws from Gardner put Elmhurst back in front by eight (66-58) with one minute remaining. The Red Men came no closer than six points as Elmhurst hit their final four free throws to preserve the win.
 
Elmhurst controlled the contest inside, outrebounding Carthage 41-28 and outscoring the Red Men 30-20 in the paint. The Bluejays' bench outscored Carthage's subs 38-8, accounting for over half of Elmhurst's points.

The Bluejays finished the contest shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor, including 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from downtown. Elmhurst was solid from the foul line, hitting 17-of-21 attempts (81.0 percent). Dotlich led Elmhurst in the win with 18 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor. Jeremy Ireland finished one rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 12 points and nine rebounds. Jake Rhode finished with nine points while Lance Gardner scored eight for Elmhurst. Ryan Patton and Pavlos Marakis totaled seven points apiece for the Bluejays. Making his first career start, Marakis added nine rebounds and five assists in the win.
 
Carthage finished the game shooting 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the floor and an identical 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from three-point distance. Kienan Baltimore paced Carthage in the loss, finishing with a game-high 21 points before fouling out. Brad Kruse and Jordan Thomas aadded 10 points apiece while Derek Mason scored nine for the Red Men.
 
Elmhurst hosts North Park University on Wednesday, February 14.