WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team remained unbeaten in CCIW play, rallying from an 11-point second half deficit to upend Carroll University 74-70.
 
Elmhurst upped its record to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in the CCIW with the victory while Carroll slid to 5-9 overall and 1-4 in league play.
 
Elmhurst started quickly, scoring the game's first six points on back-to-back three-pointers from Nick Perry and Derek Dotich but Carroll answered back, pulling even at 12-12. With the score even at 19-all with 8:30 remaining in the opening half, the Pioneers rattled of a 21-4 run over the next three minute to open up an eight-point cushion. The Bluejays closed to within two points at 34-32, but Carroll closed the final three minutes of the first half on an 8-0 run to carry a 42-32 lead into halftime.
 
The Pioneers extended their lead to 11 points early in the second half but Elmhurst mounted a rally. The Bluejays used an 11-2 run to close to within two points with 11:45 remaining. Carroll responded with a 6-0 run, pushing its lead back to eight points with just nine minutes remaining. Elmhurst trimmed the deficit down to just one point on three occasions before finally taking a lead with just under three minutes on a Jeremy Ireland layup. The two teams traded buckets for the next two minutes as the lead changed hands six times in the final three minutes. Trailing by one with 57 seconds left, Jake Rhode drove to the basket and hit a layup, putting the Bluejays up 71-70 with 27 seconds left to play.
 
Carroll had a chance to tie and take the lead, but the Pioneers missed two free throws with 14 seconds left. Pavlos Marakis grabbed the rebound on the second miss and was fouled. Marakis hit the front end of a one-and-one to double Elmhurst's lead to two at 72-70 with 11 seconds left on the clock. Carroll had a chance to tie the game on its final possession, but a layup attempt was offline and Derek Dotlich collected the rebound and was fouled. Dotlich hit both free throws to make the final score 74-70 in favor of the Bluejays.
 
Carroll outshot Elmhurst 51.0 percent (26-of-51) to 45.6 percent (26-of-57). The Pioneers also held an edge in three-point shooting, hitting 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from downtown compared to Elmhurst's 31.8 percent (7-of-22). The Bluejays turned in a solid effort from the foul line, hitting 15-of-18 attempts to shoot 83.3 percent while Carroll missed seven free throws (12-of-19) to finish the game shooting 63.2 percent.
 
Elmhurst made the most of Carroll's mistakes, converting 12 turnovers into 18 points. The Bluejays also turned 14 offensive rebounds into 22 second chance points.
 
Rhode, Ireland and Dotlich combined for 59 of the Bluejays' 74 points in the win. Rhode and Ireland totaled 21 points apiece in the victory. Ireland added a team-leading seven rebounds to go with four assists. Dotlich chipped in with 17 points and five boards while Nick Perry finished with six points and four assists in the win.
 
Nick Penny led Carroll in the loss with 18 points. Penny shot 6-of-7 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Tyler Ingebrightsen added 13 points while Tarren Hall scored 11 for the Pioneers.
 
Elmhurst travels to North Central College on Saturday, January 5.