Men’s basketball team upsets No. 18-ranked Carthage, 88-73

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team upset Carthage (Wis.) College, 88-73, today inside the Battle Creek Central High School Fieldhouse. Carthage entered the game ranked No. 18 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Final Score: Olivet 88, Carthage (Wis.) 73
Location: Battle Creek Central High School Fieldhouse; Battle Creek, Michigan
Records: Carthage 9-2 overall, Olivet 3-8 overall

• In the first half, the Comets led by 12 points, 20-8, at the 12:02 mark. The Red Men fought back with a 17-3 run to take a 25-23 lead with 5:49 left until halftime. Olivet regained the lead, 26-23, when freshman Britton Angell made a three-pointer. That basket ignited a 17-6 run to push the Comet lead to nine points, 40-31, at the 1:54 mark. Carthage put the final five points on the scoreboard to trail by four points, 40-36, at the break.
• Olivet extended its lead to as many as 16 points twice in the second half. The last time was 68-52 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game. The Red Men battled back and cut their deficit down to six points on three occasions. Following the last time at 76-70, the Comets out-scored Carthage, 12-3, over the final 4:45 for their 15-point margin of victory.
• For the game, the teams posted near identical field goal percentages at 39.1 percent (27-of-69) for Olivet to 39.2 (29-of-74) for the Red Men. The difference in the game was the Comets made six more three-pointers (10 to 4) and shot a higher percentage at the free throw line, 88.9 percent (24-of-27) for Olivet to 64.7 percent (11-of-17) for Carthage. The Comets also distributed the ball better, with 16 assists compared to five for the Red Men. Olivet also out-rebounded Carthage, 50-41.

• Four starters reached double figures in the scoring column and the fifth had double digit rebounds.
• Junior Shawn Pardee paced all players with 27 points and five assists.
• Junior Eddie Thigpen contributed a season-high 23 points.
• Angell had 18 points. He and Pardee canned four three-pointers apiece.
• Junior Chris Martin finished with 13 points and four assists.
• Senior Keyon Rainey grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, including five off the offensive glass.

• Fillip Bulatovic scored a team-best 16 points.
• Crishawn Cook and Jordon Kedrowski each had 13 points.
• Preston Laketa and Brad Perry tallied 10 points apiece.
• Cook pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.

• Including the Red Men, the Comets have played four schools this season who were either ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes in the D3hoops.com poll at the time of the game.
• Today's game was the fifth all-time meeting against Carthage. The Red Men won the first three meetings, and the Comets have now won the last two.
• Today's win was the first in school against a school ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll since Nov. 28, 2010, when Olivet beat No. 18 John Carroll (Ohio) University.

• Olivet opens Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, when it plays a 7:30 p.m. game at Hope College.