01-18-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARRIER MILLS - “No one comes into our place and pushes us around.”

Not only is that a line from a sports movie about Notre Dame football player “Rudy” it is a battle cry for most teams when hosting important games.

The Carrier Mills Wildcats on Friday night didn't allow NCOE to “push” them around. In fact the opposite occurred.

Using a stunning rebounding edge and - an overwhelming advantage in scoring from the foul line - the host 'Cats outmaneuvered Norris City-Omaha-Enfield to pull to within a game of the Fighting Cardinals for first place in the Greater Egyptian Conference race with a 64-50 win Friday night.

Coach Mark Motsinger's club “out-muscled” and “out-hustled” NCOE 45-31 on the boards and turned that advantage into a big conference win in front of the home folks.

The Wildcats were relentless on the offensive glass with 19 second chance opportunities in which they converted into 10 direct points on put-backs.

Coupled with a defensive effort that limited the Cards to just 33 percent shooting from the field – CM handed Coach Doug Millers' front-runners their first GEC loss of the season and narrowed the gap between the two squads to just a game with a lot of league games remaining.

Balanced scoring didn't hurt the home team either as five Carrier Mills players hit for double-figures in scoring as the Wildcats improved to 8-6 overall and 7-1 in the GEC.

Ryan Nichols led CM with 13 points while teammates Wyatt Kirkland (12), Dallas Beeding (11), Caleb Motsinger (10) and Luke Morgan (10) all produced on a night in which the conference championship could have slipped away with a home loss.

The Cardinals (13-5 overall, 8-1 in the GEC) were paced by 16 points from Nicholas Mitchell and 15 markers from Cody Etienne.

Jesse Flannigan – one of the top guns in the Fighting Cardinals arsenal – was silenced for the most part with just six points on the night.

Carrier Mills used a 7-0 run to start the second half to turn a 18-17 halftime deficit into a 24-20 advantage.

Morgan, Beeding and Nichols all delivered points in the run with Nichols closing the scoring spree with a fast break lay in with just under a minute gone on the third quarter clock.

NCOE hung close to the victors for a while in that third frame on the strength of six points from Mitchell and eight points from Etienne.

Etienne hit a pair of free throws at the 3:56 mark to give the Cards a 30-29 lead.

It was the final time that NCOE was in front on the scoreboard.

Nichols – on the Carrier Mills next possession – canned a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to begin a 7-1 run that gave the Wildcats a 36-31 advantage.

Nichols closed the third quarter by scoring on a back door cut to the basket to end the stanza at 38-35 CM.

The fouls began to mount in the fourth quarter early as NCOE sent the Cats to the line 21 times in the fourth quarter. Carrier Mills converted 17 of those chances into points and an eventual victory.

Kirkland stuck a real dagger into the Cardinals heart with a key offensive rebound off of a missed free throw by Motsinger. His put-back gave CM a 49-40 lead with 4:20 remaining.

At one point the Wildcats scored seven consecutive points from the foul line which coincided with four straight NCOE missed shots.

On that foul line run – Carrier Mills was 7-of-8 which resulted in a 58-42 spread.

Mitchell scored a pair of baskets with under two minutes left for NCOE but the Wildcats responded with a pair of free throws by Kirkland and a fast break lay in by Beeding that turned into a conventional three-point play.

The subsequent free throw finished the Carrier Mills second half onslaught and left the NCOE troops just one game up in the standings.

Carrier Mills didn't shoot the ball well for the game but managed to corral enough second chance points to pull away for the conference triumph.

CM finished 21-of-62 overall with a lot of the misses on tip in attempts in their domination of the offensive boards.

NCOE – normally a good shooting club – failed to hit any of their eight 3-point attempts on the night.

They finished 20-of-60 overall which is a far-cry from the hot shooting club that has surprised a lot of experts in the 2007-08 season.

Both team head back into action next week in the annual GEC Tournament held at Southeastern Illinois College beginning on Monday.

NCOE (50) - Flannigan 1 0 4-8 6, Halfacre 2 0 0-0 4, Mitchell 8 0 0-1 16, Hart 3 0 0-0 6, Kerns 1 0 1-2 3, Etienne 5 0 5-6 15. 2FG-20, 3FG-0, FT-5-6, PF-21.
Carrier Millis (54) - Kirkland 2 0 8-10 12, Beeding 2 2 1-1 11, Motsinger 3 0 4-11 10, Morgan 5 0 0-0 10, Nichols 3 1 4-4 13, Webb 1 0 1-2 3, Stucker 2 0 1-1 5.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-19-28, PF-11
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.