The Carthage College men's basketball team (9-6, 2-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for the 39th-most votes in the Jan. 11 D3hoops.com Top 25, played No. 8 Augustana College (Ill., 15-0, 4-0 CCIW) dead-even for 39 minutes on Saturday, Jan. 15 before falling to the Vikings, 58-54, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
The game was a classic CCIW-battle from the start. There were nine lead changes in the first half, three ties and neither team with more than a five-point lead. Carthage had an 11-6 lead at 12:49, and Augustana led by five, 28-23, at 3:02 The Vikings led by a point at halftime, 31-30. Augustana inched away to a seven-point lead, 39-32, at 15:47 second half and still led by seven, 41-34, at 13:07. A three-pointer by Malcom Kelly and four points by Steve Djurickovic gave the Red Men a 41-41 tie at 10:25. Two free throws by Kelly at 9:48 put Carthage up by two, 43-41.
After the Vikings re-gained the lead, 44-43, at 9:20, back-to-back three pointers by Djurickovic and Kelly at 8:49 and 6:22, respectively, gave the Red Men a five-point lead, 49-44. Augustana answered with 11 unanswered points to take a six-point lead, 55-49, at 1:34. Kyle Nelson capped that run with two field goals. The Red Men had one last rally. A three-pointer by Jon Cieski with 47 seconds to play and a layup by Djurickovic at 22 seconds made it a one-point game, 55-54. Nelson drained two free throws at 12 seconds to put the Vikings up by three, 57-54. Djurickovic missed a layup at seven seconds. Brian DeSimone was fouled with five seconds on the clock and made the second of two free throws to close out the scoring at 58-54.
Neither team shot very well. Augustana shot 34 percent (20-59), including 30 percent (9-30) in the second half. Carthage shot 36 percent (20-56), including just 24 percent (7-29) in the second period. The Vikings had a commanding, 47-33 rebounding edge, including 14 offensive boards to just six for the Red Men. Kyle Nelson led Augustana with game highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Nelson connected on seven-of-15 field goals. Brian DeSimone added 11 points.
Steve Djurickovic (Sr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) topped Carthage with 19 points on eight-of-20 shooting, including just one-of-six from three-point range, along with four rebounds and six assists. Malcom Kelly (So., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) had 16 points on five-of-14 field goals, including four-of-10 three pointers. Nick Bauch (Fr., Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic), while limited to five points, pulled down eight rebounds. Raul Guzman (So., Lyons, Ill./Berwyn-Morton West) missed his third-straight game with back spasms, while Max Cary (Jr., Geneva, Ill.) missed his second-consecutive game with a strained shoulder.
"If you can't be proud of our effort tonight" said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "then you can't be proud of much. Augustana, who hadn't shot well all night, made two-consecutive three-pointers after we took a five-point lead. After that, we just couldn't quite climb the hill. We couldn't be more disappointed. We had every right to win this game. Their size and discipline makes them a team that you have to play well against for 40 minutes. They don't blow you away with great offensive execution, but they play smart and play hard. We're down right now, because we expected to win this game. The next three games, however, are perhaps the most-important stretch of the season. We can't think about Augustana again for three weeks. Until then, we have to knock off North Central, Millikin and North Park, one at a time. We have a ton of work to do yet, and there is still a lot to play for."
On Wednesday, Jan. 19, Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent North Central College (7-8, 3-1 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game, also at Tarble Arena.