The Carthage College men's basketball team (12-10, 6-5 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) upset CCIW-opponent and No. 19 Wheaton College (Ill., 17-5, 8-3 CCIW), 69-67, on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage remains in fifth place in the league, one game behind Augustana College (Ill., 17-5, 7-4 CCIW) and Illinois Wesleyan University (16-6, 7-4 CCIW), each tied for third place.  Augustana (Ill.) a 59-57 winner at North Park University on Tuesday, while the Titans fell at home to North Central College by an 80-73 margin.

The Red Men never trailed against the Thunder.  Carthage jumped out to an 11-point lead, 19-8, at 12:45, and the Red Men maintained at least a nine-point lead throughout the first half.  Carthage led by as much as 15 points, 31-16, at 3:06 and led by nine at the break, 31-22.  The Thunder scored the last six points of the first half and the first basket of the second period to close to within seven, 31-24, at 19:42.  Wheaton continued to close and pulled to within four, 32-28, at 17:45.  Carthage went back up by 10 points, 41-31, at 15:01.  The Thunder made it a three-point game, 43-40, at 11:19 before the Red Men went back up by 12, 61-49, at 5:38.

Then things got interesting.  A 13-2 Wheaton run shaved the lead to one point, 65-64, with 16 seconds to play.  A Tyler Peters three-pointer capped that Thunder rally.  Following a Wheaton timeout, Carthage's Kevin Sykes made two free throws to give the Red Men at 67-64 lead with 14 second left.  Aaron Garriott scored on a layup for the Thunder with six seconds remaining to make a one-point game, 67-66.  Malcom Kelly was fouled and converted two free throws for a 69-66 lead at five seconds.  Garriott was fouled at the two-second mark.  He made the first throw, deliberately missed the second, but Carthage rebounded and won the game by two points, 69-67.

Carthage shot 51 percent (23-45), including eight-of-13 from three-point range, while Wheaton also shot 51 percent (24-47), including six-of-11 from three-point range.  The Red Men converted 15-of-18 from the free-throw line, while the Thunder went 13-of-21.  Carthage won the rebounding battle, 29-23.

Three Carthage players scored in double figures.  Malcom Kelly (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored a game-high 25 points on seven-of-17 field goals, including four-of-eight three-pointers, along with seven-of-eight from the free-throw line.  Mitch Thompson (Jr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had 16 points on five-of-seven shooting, including two-of-two three pointers, along with four-of-six free throws, five rebounds and two blocked shots.  Tyler Pierce (Jr., Westmont, Ill.) came off the bench to score 11 points on five-of-six shooting.  Tim McCrary led the Thunder with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.  Spencer Schultze and Aaron Garriott had 12 points each, Schultze with seven boards, and Tyler Peters chipped in 10 points.

"It was a great game," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "and we were due to win one of these.  We've played a lot of good teams close, and this kind of finish was what we were looking for.  The effort was good.  The execution could have been better, and we were just so careless with the ball.  Nick Bauch was really good, as was Kevin Sykes Jr. and Malcom Kelly.  We did a good job defending Tim McCrary, who's a really good basketball player and a warrior.  Our guys knew what was at stake, and they treated the game accordingly.  We still have a lot to play for, both this year and in the future."

Carthage plays host to CCIW-opponent and No. 26 Illinois Wesleyan (16-6, 7-4 CCIW) on Saturday night, Feb. 11 in a 7:30 p.m. game, also at Tarble Arena.