The Carthage College men's basketball team (6-5, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) closed out its non-conference schedule on Friday, Dec. 30 with a 69-65 loss to Washington College (Md., 7-5) in the championship game of the California Lutheran University "Thrivent Financial" Tournament at the Gilberts Sports & Fitness Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
California Lutheran (4-5) defeated Geneva College (3-8), 53-45, in the Friday, Dec. 30 consolation game. Carthage opened tournament play on Thursday, Dec. 29 with a 76-48 win over Geneva, with Washington defeating the host-Kingsmen, 75-67, in the other first-round game.
Carthage took an eight-point lead midway through the first half, 20-12, at 10:40. The Red Men extended their lead to as much as 14 points, 31-17, at 3:25 and led by 10 points at halftime, 35-25. The second half turned into a struggle for Carthage. The Shoremen whittled the lead down to four points early in the second half, 42-38, at 14:59. A three-pointer by the Shoremen's Sal Schittino at 14:09 made it a one-point game, 42-41. Washington then took its first lead since the game's opening minutes, 43-42, at 11:09 on a layup by Max Finch.
The Red Men went back up by five, 50-45, at 10:47, but Washington re-gained the lead, 53-52, at 6:58 on a layup by Chris Olsen. The Shoremen went up by four, 60-56, at 2:53. With the score tied at 61-61 at 1:44, the Red Men's Luke Johnson was fouled but missed both free throws. Washington's Tony Hawkins scored at 1:13 to put the Shoremen up to stay, 63-61. Kevin Breslin scored at 1:03 to give Washington a four-point edge, 65-61. The Red Men missed three field-goal attempts on their next possession. Johnson was fouled but missed two more free throws. Breslin connected on a pair of free throws with 31 seconds remaining to make it a six-point game, 67-61, and the Shoremen went on to win by four points, 69-65.
Carthage shot 45 percent (25-56), including three-of-10 from three-point range, while Washington shot 40 percent (26-65). including three-of-12 three-pointers. The Red Men out-rebounded the Shoremen, 44-36, but Carthage turned the ball over 22 times and connected on just 12-of-25 from the free-throw line.
Carthage's Mitch Thompson (Jr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), who was named to the all-tournament team, was the game's leading scorer for the second night in a row with 22 points on 10-of-17 field goals and two-of-five free throws, along with a game-high 15 rebounds. Malcom Kelly (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther), who was also named all-tournament, was the only other Red Men player in double figures with 16 points on four-of-13 shooting, along with seven-of-10 free throws and seven boards. Kevin Cunningham topped Washington with 15 points. Kevin Breslin scored 13 points with five rebounds, and Chris Olsen added 11 points and five rebounds.
"Washington has a very fine basketball team, and they play the game correctly," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "They play with a lot energy, and this game was sort of 'David and Goliath' for them against a mighty CCIW team who blocks shots and dunks and does all those pretty things. What this game proved is that if you don't have a Plan B, you're going to struggle. When we can run and dunk and block shots, we're going to be in great shape. We have to learn how to play better without depending on those components all the time. We had a complete breakdown in our offensive plan in the second half and a really bad job on the defensive end."
The Carthage loss snapped a four-game winning streak. The Red Men open their CCIW-schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 4 by traveling to Naperville, Ill., to play North Central College (6-5, 0-0 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at Merner Fieldhouse/Gregory Arena.
"The CCIW will be a great league again this year, as it is every year," said Djurickovic. "The competition is going to be intense, starting next week. Hopefully, we're ready to compete at that level. When we play with the energy and execution that we're capable of, we have a chance to compete in this league. If we don't , we're going to find some nights like the second half of the this game. While I'm disappointed with the 6-5 start, I'm not discouraged."