The Carthage College men's basketball team (11-12, 6-6 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) fell to CCIW-opponent and No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan University (20-3, 12-0 CCIW), 78-59, on Saturday night, Feb. 9 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  Illinois Wesleyan clinched the CCIW title with the win.  The Titans have a three-game lead with two games to play.  Carthage remains tied with Augustana College (Ill., 16-7, 6-6 CCIW) for fourth place.

There were three lead changes and three ties in the first half.  Carthage led by as much as four points on two occasions, the last at 17-13 at 13:06.  Illinois Wesleyan opened up a nine-point lead, 31-22, at 6:58.  The Titans were still leading by seven, 35-28, at 2:08 before the Red Men converted two-straight turnovers into layup baskets to cut the lead to three, 35-32, with 57 seconds to play.  Illinois Wesleyan led by four points at the half, 37-33. 

The Titans opened up a 13-point margin, 51-38, at 15:25 second half.  The Red Men made a final run, closing to within seven points, 51-44, at 12:38, but an 11-4 run put Illinois Wesleyan up by 14 points, 60-46, at 9:06.  The Titans widened the margin to as much as 25 points down the stretch, 78-53, at 1:19 and went on to win by 19, 78-59.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 51 percent (28-55), including seven-of-23 three-pointers, while Carthage shot 42 percent (21-50), including just two-of-16 from three-point range.  The Titans enjoyed a whopping, 42-16 rebounding advantage, including 16-4 on the offensive glass.  Four Illinois Wesleyan starters scored in double figures.  Kevin Reed led the way with a game-high 22 points on a perfect 10-of-10 from the floor, along with eight rebounds and four assists.  Pat Sodemann scored 13 points with five rebounds.  Andrew Ziemnik had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Dylan Overstreet had 10 points, five boards and eight assists.  Michael Mayberger came off the Titan bench to add 12 points. 

Carthage had three players in double figures.  Tyler Pierce (Sr., Westmont, Ill.) led the Red Men with 19 points on eight-of-10 shooting.  Mitch Thompson (Sr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had 13 points and four rebounds, with Marlon Senior (Jr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) adding 11 points and five rebounds.

"I've seen more talented teams in my years in the league," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "but I don't know that I've seen a more-efficient team, a better-balanced team or a better-coached team than this Illinois Wesleyan group.  They deserve every accolade they get.  We were competitive for a long time, but they didn't allow another surge on our part that might have gotten things back to even.  That team is 12-0 for a reason.  We got out-rebounded by 26, and nothing else needs to be said.  We competed hard, my team gave it what they had, and I'm proud of the effort.  You want them to play to the best level of their ability, and for the most part, we did that.  Unfortunately, that effort is not going to be enough to beat this Illinois Wesleyan team.  Somebody will beat them, but they'll have to play really well to do that.  As it stands now, they won't leave their gym until the NCAA finals.  All we can do now is play the best Carthage basketball we can over the next two games."

Carthage travels to Wheaton, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 16 to take on conference-opponent and No. 22 Wheaton College (Ill., 18-5, 8-4 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at King Arena.