WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University men's basketball team fell in a closely contested battle to the Millikin Big Blue on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers fell 71-74 in the final seconds of the contest. Ryan Mendoza finished with 23 points on 8-17 shooting from the floor and 5-5 at the free-throw line. Justin Steinike pulled in a team-high 8 rebounds to go along with 12 points.
 
The Pioneers (3-6, 0-3 CCIW) are still fighting for the first CCIW victory of the season. Carroll tied their season-best nine three-pointers made in the game, to finish shooting 36% from behind the arc. Carroll picked up 11 steals leading to 18 points off turnovers. The Pios supplied 28 points from the bench, powered by Trenton Nickel's 12 points and Eckahelo Simpson's seven. Carroll found themselves in foul trouble and struggled to get to the line, committing 22 personal fouls, and only taking eight free throws all game. In a contest with nine lead changes and eight ties, Carroll led for 7:16 by as much as three points.
 
Carroll quickly found themselves down 2-5 two minutes into the contest, to which Millikin ran up their lead to seven points with 14:21 left in the first half. The Big Blue led by 10 points with 2:44 left in the period, before Nickel's three-point basket kick-started a 14-2 run with four made three-pointers in the closing minutes of the half. The Pios finished the first half shooting 48.3%.
 
Millikin re-took the lead early in the second half, but Nickel responded the next possession with another knockdown three. A class B technical foul on Millikin gave Ryan Mendoza a made free throw with 16:31 left in the game to tie the score at 39-39. Mendoza followed up the made free throw with a fast break pull-up three-pointer a few possessions later off a turnover. The Big Blue and the Pioneers were all even with 5:45 to play, tied at 53-53. Millikin went on a 12-5 run to take a seven-point lead with under two minutes to play. Steinike and Mendoza both hit big shots to keep the contest close, but Millikin capitalized on Carroll fouls and made 11 of 19 free throws in the second half. The Pios had a few chances after forcing turnovers, but they ran out of time to fall by three.
 
The Pioneers will take a week off to recover and rest up for the third top-25 matchup this season, as Carroll travels to Elmhurst to square off with the Bluejays.