BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The 21st-ranked Elmhurst University men's basketball team took down Carthage College, 80-66, Friday evening in the CCIW Tournament Semifinals at the Shirk Center in Bloomington.

After splitting the regular-season series, the Bluejays took the rubber match over the Firebirds to secure their third-straight CCIW Tournament Final appearance and their fourth in the last five full seasons played.

Elmhurst (21-5, 12-4 CCIW) came out on top thanks to a pair of huge performances from second team all-CCIW honoree OCean Johnson (23 points, five rebounds) and the reigning CCIW Most Outstanding Student-Athlete and first team all-CCIW honoree Jonathan Zapinski (15 points, 15 rebounds, three assists). Tagen Pearson knocked down a pair of treys en route to a 13 point performance, while John Ittounas totaled 12 points on the evening.

Carthage (17-10, 10-6 CCIW) had three players score double-digit points, led by Julian Campbell's 15 points and five rebounds. Antuan Nesbitt scored 14 points and dished out seven assists, while Ryan Johnson tallied 13 points and eight rebounds for the Firebirds.

The Bluejays started the night with a pair of quick three-pointers from Ittounas and Quinn Pemberton, but the Firebirds evened the score as the two teams began to trade leads and ties between each other. After Elmhurst opened a 33-23 lead with 4:42 remaining in the opening period, Carthage ended the half on a 14-2 run to take a narrow 37-35 lead into halftime.

Elmhurst responded in the second half, with Pearson notching back-to-back treys that gave the Bluejays the lead again, and would begin a 19-6 run capped off by a Johnson three, forcing a Firebird timeout and giving Elmhurst a 54-43 lead with 11:11 remaining. From there, the Bluejays continued their strong offensive pace and a solid defensive plan secured Elmhurst the 14-point victory in the conference semifinals.

UP NEXT

Elmhurst will face another rubber match in the CCIW Tournament Finals tomorrow evening, Feb. 24, at 7:15 p.m., as the Bluejays are set to take on top-seeded and No. 22 Illinois Wesleyan for a berth to this year's NCAA Tournament at the Shirk Center in Bloomington.

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