ELMHURST, Ill. – Jake Rhode and Pavlos Marakis both totaled double-doubles to help lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to an 87-80 victory over Carthage College at R.A. Faganel Hall.
 
Jeremy Ireland scored a team-leading 21 points and Derek Doltich chipped in with 16 points as Elmhurst improved to 11-9 on the season and 6-5 in the CCIW. The back-and-forth affair between the Bluejays and Carthage (7-13, 2-9 CCIW) featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
 
Elmhurst struggled out of the gate as Carthage raced out to a 15-4 lead over the game's first seven minutes. The Bluejays answered back with a 13-3 run over the next three minutes to close to within a point. Elmhurst pulled even at 22-22 on a Nick Perry layup and Ireland's bucket with seven minutes left gave Elmhurst its first lead of the game. Elmhurst rattled off a 14-5 run to open up a 38-29 lead following a four-point play from Dotlich with just under two minutes left in the half. Carthage fought back, closing the half with a 9-0 run to pull even at 38-38 at the break.
 
The second half was evenly matched as the score was tied six times and the lead changed hands 10 times over the first 15 minutes of action. Carthage led by as many as five points with nine minutes remaining, but five straight from Ireland, a bucket from Marakis and a three-pointer from Rhode gave the Bluejays' a 70-65 lead with 6:30 left. Back-to-back three-pointers put the Red men in front 71-70, but Dotlich splashed home a three to give Elmhurst a two-point lead with five minutes remaining. Carthage pulled even 20 seconds later on a Kienan Baltimore layup with 4:40 left to play.
 
Elmhurst went ahead for good on a Marakis bucket with four minutes left. Nik Balkcom followed with a layup to give Elmhurst a four-point cushion. Elmhurst led by four with three minutes to go before TJ Best drilled a three-pointer for Carthage, cutting the Bluejays' lead down to one. Four straight points from Rhode put Elmhurst back up by five with 1:33. Leading by three with 43 seconds left, the Bluejays secured an offensive rebound that led to two Nick Perry free throws. Marakis came up with a block and a layup in the closing seconds as Elmhurst pulled away for the seven-point win.
 
Elmhurst shot 47.2 percent (34-of-72) from the floor in the win, including 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from downtown. The Bluejays were a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line while also winning the rebounding battle 39-33. Ireland finished with a team-best 21 while collecting seven rebounds. Dotlich poured in 16 points, hitting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Rhode recorded a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 10 assists. Marakis recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring a career-best 12 points and pulling down a team-leading 12 rebounds in the win.
 
Carthage was led by 24 points from Baltimore while Jordan Kedrowski added 18. Sean Johnson finished with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds while TJ Best scored 10 for the Red Men.
 
Elmhurst travels to Wheaton College on Saturday, February 2.