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Men's Hoops Team Drops Second Straight
Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 12th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, dropped its second straight CCIW contest, falling 79-68 to Carthage College at home.
Elmhurst (11-3, 1-2 CCIW) entered the game ranked among the nations' best teams in shooting, but the Bluejays shooting deserted them for the majority of the game. Elmhurst came into the contest shooting 54.0 percent from the floor (first in the nation), but shot 30 percent for the majority of the game before finishing at 43.5 percent (27-of-62). The Bluejays entered the contest ranked fifth in the nation from beyond the arc (45.2 percent), but struggled from long range for most of the game. The Bluejays finished the game shooting 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range.
Carthage (8-6, 2-1 CCIW) switched to a zone defense early in the first half that kept the Bluejays off-balanced. The Red Men tried to take away the Bluejays' inside game and force Elmhurst to shoot from the outside.
The Red Men led 39-27 at halftime before Elmhurst trimmed the deficit down to six points early in the second half. Carthage responded by opening up a 16-point lead with six minutes to play. After opening up a double-digit lead late in the second half, Carthage worked time off the clock on every offensive possession, preventing Elmhurst from having time to mount a rally.
The Red Men were also red hot with their shooting. Carthage shot 61.5 percent (24-of-39) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from beyond the arc. They entered the game hitting only 31.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Elmhurst only went to the foul line seven times (6-of-7 from 85.7 percent) while Carthage hit 24-of-31 free throw attempts (77.4 percent).
Elmhurst was led by Brent Ruch's (Farmer City/Blue Ridge) 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Matt Ryder (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) added 13 points and a career-high eight assists. Robert Strzemp came off the bench to score 12. Jimmy Saris (Crystal Lake/Crystal Lake South) and Ryan Burks (Manito/Midwest Central) each finished with seven points.
All five of Carthage's starters finished with double figures in scoring led by Steve Djurickovic's 19 points. Djurickovic added eight assists and three boards in the win. Billy Shemerdiak scored 15 and grabbed six boards while Trey Bowens finished with 14 points. Neb Franciskovic and Sean Fendley each scored 12 for the Red Men.
Elmhurst hosts Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday, January 19, at 8:30 p.m.
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