The Carthage College men's basketball team (12-11, 6-6 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) lost a crucial game to CCIW opponent Illinois Wesleyan (17-6, 8-4 CCIW), 69-64, on Saturday night, Feb. 11 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. 

Carthage remains in fifth place in the league, two games behind Augustana College (Ill., 18-5, 8-4 CCIW) and Illinois Wesleyan, each tied for third place.  Augustana (Ill.) was a 71-61 winner over Elmhurst College on Saturday.  North Central College (16-7, 10-2 CCIW) remains in first place despite a 64-61 loss to second-place Wheaton College (Ill., 18-5, 9-3 CCIW), also on Saturday.

With the loss to Illinois Wesleyan, the Red Men no longer have a chance to qualify for the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament.  While Carthage could finish in a fourth-place tie with either Illinois Wesleyan or Augustana (Ill.), the Red Men would fall short on a CCIW tie-breaker with either team.

Carthage opened up a 15-7 lead at 12:22 first period.  The Red Men extended their lead to nine points, 22-13, at 7:40, before the Titans came back to tie the game, 22-22, at 4:57.  Illinois Wesleyan led by two points at the break, 33-31.  The first 12 minutes of the second half was all Titans, as Illinois Wesleyan used a 23-9 run to take a 16-point lead, 56-40, at 8:07.  The Red Men battled back with a 19-5 run to close the gap to two points, 61-59, with 30 seconds remaining.  The Titans' John Koschnitzky scored a breakaway dunk with 23 seconds to go to put IWU up by four, 63-59.  Illinois Wesleyan sealed the game at the free-throw line in the final seconds, with Jordan Zimmer converting on six-of-six form the charity stripe in the final 14 seconds, as the Titans won by five points, 69-64. 

Illinois Wesleyan shot 45 percent (22-49), including six-of-18 from three-point range, while Carthage shot just 39 percent (25-64), including eight-of-28 three-pointers.  The Titans got to the free-throw line 28 times and made 19 of those, while the Red Men were six-of-six.  Illinois Wesleyan won the rebounding battle, 38-30 and turned the ball over 17 times to just nine for the Red Men.

Four Titans scored in double figures.  John Koschnitzky had 14 points and four rebounds, Jordan Zimmer 12 points and four boards, Eliud Gonzalez 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Andrew Ziemnik came off the bench to add 11 points.  Carthage's Malcom Kelly (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-26 field goals, including three-of-13 three-pointers, along with five rebounds.  Kelly went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the second half and is currently 26th on the Red Men's all-time scoring list with 1,009 points. Max Cary (Sr., Geneva, Ill.) added 13 points.

"It was a heck of a basketball game," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "although there were 10 minutes or so in the second half where we didn't compete.  The last seven minutes, however, I couldn't be prouder of our guys.  We really got after them.  We gave ourselves too much to do, but I was proud of our effort.  Give Illinois Wesleyan credit, because they've changed their model.  They've always been an impeccable offensive team who's been a little soft.  Not anymore.  They're as physical as any team in the league.  We didn't move the ball well enough or execute well enough.  Illinois Wesleyan handled our pressure without turning the ball over.  We're just a little too complacent, and that will get you into trouble against good teams.  Our inside game wasn't much tonight, either."

Carthage travels to Elmhurst, Ill., on Tuesday, Feb. 14 to play CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College (11-12, 5-7 CCIW) in a 7:30 p.m. game at R.A. Faganel Hall.