Carmickle lifts Morthland to first program win

WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. – Will Carmickle scored a career-high 39 points to help the Patriots cruise to their eventual 91-66 win over Crowley’s Ridge College Thursday night. This marks the first win in Morthland College men’s basketball history.

Morthland (1-13) started the game slow trailing 6-0 before Rich Herrin put on the press and the Patriots reeled off a 13-5 run to take the lead. “This is the first time we were able to play nine players,” said head coach Rich Herrin. “We decided to press early in the game and it turned out to be the right decision.”

The Patriots got it rolling midway through the first half leading by as many as 22 points behind the strong bench play of freshman guard Alex Davis who scored 14 points and dished out 6 assists on the night helping Morthland to a 46-28 halftime lead.

Rebounding and solid defense helped Morthland maintain their lead despite a late push by Crowley’s Ridge to cut the deficit to 13 points at the 11-minute mark in the second half. The Patriots grabbed a season-high 62 total rebounds in tonight’s win while CRC had just 39. Twenty-two offensive rebounds helped the Pats to a 56-24 scoring advantage in the paint and 27 second chance points.

Eldorado native Will Carmickle paced Morthland tonight with 39 points and 19 rebounds while Clay Payne chipped in 14 points and 9 rebounds. Freshman Roby Boatright scored 12 points while Nick Bonner added 5 points off the bench.

Morthland College will go for its second win on the season on Monday, Jan. 14 when they host Victory University at Rend Lake College with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

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