UOlivet defeated at Carthage, 92-82

KENOSHA, Wis. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team was defeated by Carthage (Wis.) College, 92-82, in a non-league game today at Tarble Arena.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Carthage 92, Olivet 82
• Location: Tarble Arena; Kenosha, Wisconsin
• Records: Olivet 2-6 overall, Carthage 6-4 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Firebirds built a 10-point lead, 22-12, at the 10:14 mark of the first half. The Comets scored eight straight points to trim their deficit down to two points. Carthage answered with its own 8-0 spurt to push its advantage back to double digits, 32-22. A 7-0 Olivet run made the score 32-29 with four minutes left until halftime. The Firebirds ended the half on a 14-4 run to take a 46-33 into the locker room. During the run, Carthage drained four shots from behind the arc.
• In the second half, the Firebirds extended their lead to as many as 22 points on three occasions. The third time was 72-50 with 9:02 remaining in the game. The Comets closed the game with a 32-20 spurt to lose by 10 points.
• Both teams made 30 baskets. Carthage was 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from three-point range compared to 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) for Olivet. The Firebirds were also better at the free throw line, 85.7 percent (18-of-21) to 66.7 percent (12-of-18).  

FOR THE COMETS

• Junior Lee Hardy scored a team-high 17 points, followed by junior Nathan Richardson with 16.
• Freshman Sean Shenker contributed 14 points.
• Sophomores Porter Kretschman and Mike Okello, and junior Conner Schipper netted nine points apiece.
• Kretschman also had team-bests in rebounds (nine), assists (four) and steals (three).

COACH'S QUOTE

"Along this process of trying to build a team, aiming for a championship, there are going to be bumps, sometimes it's two steps forward one step back," said Olivet head men's basketball coach Sam Hargraves. "Last Saturday against Steven's Point was a decent step forward. Wednesday night against Central Michigan was another decent step forward. Today was a step backwards. 

"I don't want that to take away anything from Carthage because they have a wonderful team. But our goals of trying to play as hard smart together and confidently as we can, were not met today for too many possessions of that game."

UP NEXT

• The Comets travel to play Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology next Tuesday, December 23, in an afternoon matinee, starting at 1 p.m.