The Carthage College men's basketball team (14-8, 7-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost to CCIW-opponent and No. 23 Augustana College (Ill., 16-6, 6-5 CCIW), 65-58,on Saturday night, Feb. 8 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  Wheaton College (Ill., 16-6, 9-2 CCIW) remains in sole possession of first place in the league, with Illinois Wesleyan University (18-3, 8-2) second, Carthage third and Augustana (Ill.) fourth.

The first half was nip-and-tuck with seven ties, three lead changes and neither team with more than a four-point lead.  The Red Men led by a point at the break, 24-23.  The second half was more of the same with four more ties and seven more lead changes.  Neither team had more than four-point lead for the first 14 minutes of the second half until the Vikings took a six-point lead, 53-47, at 3:53.  The lead went to eight points a few seconds later, 55-47, at 3:18, as the Red Men went six and one-half minutes without a field goal.  A steal and a layup by Carthage's Marlon Senior at 2:07 brought the Red Men back to within two, 55-53, but Augustana converted all eight free throws, along with one field goal, down the stretch to win by seven points, 65-58.

The Vikings shot 44 percent (23-52), attempted only eight three-pointers and made two, while the Red Men shot 37 percent (16-43), including seven-of-22 from three-point range. The Vikings out-rebounded the Red Men, 39-22.  Augustana got to the free-throw line 22 times and made 17, while Carthage converted 19-of-26.

Ben Ryan topped the Vikings with 15 points on five-of-seven field goals and five-of-eight free throws, along with eight rebounds, while Tayvian Johnson added 10 points and seven boards.  Carthage's Malcom Kelly (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) scored a game-high 18 points on five-of-15 shooting, including four-of-11 from three-point range, along with four-of-four free throws.  Malcom Senior (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) chipped in 12 points on four-of-six field goals and four-of-five free throws.

"This was a very physical basketball game," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "and both teams played very hard.  "They made more plays down the stretch, and we paid the price.  We're very disappointed.  We played well in spots.  We thought we somewhat cured the rebounding problem, but Augustana's game is to out-rebound you, and they did.  You can't be out-rebounded by 17 in your own building without paying a price.  Give them credit—they're good for a reason.  Good teams have ways of winning games when they are there to be won.  It's not as bad as it looks.  We're 7-4 in the league, and if we win our last two home games, we can be 9-5 in the league, and that's not bad."

Carthage plays host to conference-opponent Elmhurst College (13-8, 5-5, 5th CCIW) on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in a 7 p.m. contest, also at Tarble Arena.