DECATUR, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team upped its record to 6-0 after scoring an 85-60 win over Millikin University in the Bluejays' CCIW opener.
 
Elmhurst, ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, reamined unbeaten on the season and moved to 1-0 in league play with the win. Millikin slid to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW.

The Bluejays led for over 36 minutes of the contest and pulled away from the Big Blue in the second half. Elmhurst grabbed a 9-6 lead just four minutes into the contest after a Lavon Thomas three-pointer and the Bluejays never trailed for the duration of the game. The Bluejays built a 21-12 lead midway through the opening half. Millikin cut Elmhurst's lead down to six with 6:30 remaining, but Elmhurst closed the half on a 13-7 run to open up a 36-24 lead at halftime. Thomas led all scorers at halftime with 10 points while Derek Dotlich scored nine and Jay Militello had eight at the break.
 
Elmhurst came out red-hot in the second half. The Bluejays used a 12-3 run in the first five minutes to open up a 21-point cushion at 48-27. Elmhurst put the game out of reach over the next eight minutes, outscoring the Big Blue 23-11 to open up a 71-38 lead with seven minutes remaining. Millikin cut the lead down to 16 points with 2:43 left, but the Big Blue came no closer as Elmhurst wrapped up the contest with a 25-point win.
 
Elmhurst shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the victory, hitting 33-of-63 shots. The Bluejays finished 6-of-18 from downtown (33.3 percent) in the win. Elmhurst dominated the game inside, outscoring the Big Blue 48-14 in the paint and outrebounding the Big Blue 44-34.
 
Four Players reached double figures in scoring to lead the way for Elmhurst. Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor while also pulling down eight rebounds. Jake Rhode scored all 14 of his points in the second half, finishing 6-of-11 from the floor and adding three steals and three assists. Dotlich totaled 13 points while shooting 6-of-13. Wesley Hooker came off the bench to score a season best 13 points while hitting 5-of-9 shots. Militello totaled eight points while collecting a game-high 12 rebounds. Brady Hubly came off the bench to add nine points for Elmhurst in the victory.
 
Millikin finished the game shooting just 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field, including 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from beyond the arc. The Big Blue struggled form the foul line, hitting just 10-of-22 attempts (45.5 percent). Zach Fisher paced Millikin in the loss with 14 points. Calvin Fisher and Kevin Miller totaled nine points apiece for the Big Blue.
 
Elmhurst has nine days off before returning to action on December 14 to play host to North Central College.