The Carthage College men's basketball team (15-9, 8-5 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost to CCIW-opponent and No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan University (20-3, 10-2 CCIW), 80-66, on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill.
With the loss, Carthage falls into a fourth-place tie in the CCIW with Augustana College Ill., 18-6, 8-5 CCIW). The Red Men have clinched a spot in the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament with either the third or fourth seed. With the win, Illinois Wesleyan moved into first place, one-half game ahead of second-place Wheaton College (Ill., 17-7, 10-3 CCIW). The Thunder fell to North Central College, 71-66, on Saturday night.
Carthage had a 15-9 lead at 10:16 first half. Illinois erased that and tied the contest, 16-16, at 8:07. The Titans inched away, taking a 22-18 lead at 6:19 en route to an eight-point edge at the break, 33-25. Illinois Wesleyan upped its lead to 13 points, 51-38, at 12:28 second half and to 21 points, 62-41, at 8:43. The Titans went on to win by 14 points, 80-66.
Illinois Wesleyan shot 58 percent (23-40), including 10-of-19 three-pointers, while Carthage shot 40 percent (23-57), including four-of-16 from three-point range. The Titans got to the free-throw line 34 times and made 24 for a .705 percentage, while the Red Men connected on only 16-of-31 for 52 percent. Carthage out-rebounded IWU, 32-30.
Dylan Overstreet led the Titans with 18 points on six-of-right field goals and five-of-six free throws, while Victor Davis had 16 points and eight rebounds. Malcom Kelly (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Reuther) led Carthage with a game-high 25 points on nine-of-17 shooting, including three-of-eight three-pointers, along with four-of-six free throws. Reese Herth (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) had 15 points on four-of-nine field goals and seven-of-12 free throws. Donte Logan (Jr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) added 13 points.
"We didn't do a as good a job as we needed to as far as competing over the last 30 minutes" admitted Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "We had a good chance to get it inside of seven or eight points a few times, but that doesn't win ball games. Give Illinois Wesleyan credit—they have multiple weapons as they always do. They didn't miss many shots, and we missed way too many free throws. They come at you in waves, and they have great offensive players at every position. I still like our team. If we beat Millikin next Saturday, we'll have nine wins in what's arguably the best league in the country."
Carthage concludes its regular-season schedule on Saturday, Feb. 22 by playing host to conference-opponent Millikin University in a 7 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.