The Carthage College men's basketball team (7-9, 3-3 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost to CCIW-opponent and No. 17 North Central College (14-3, 4-2 CCIW), 87-82, on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Except for a brief tie at 14-14, North Central led the entire game. The Cardinals led by as much as 12 points in the period, 29-17, at 7:33 and led by eight at halftime, 41-33. North Central connected on six-of-eight three-pointers in the first half. The Red Men whittled the lead down to four points on three occasions in the second half, the last time at 55-51 at 13:35. The Cardinals went back up by 11 points, 65-54, at 10:00 and led by as much as 13. North Central went on to win by five points, 87-82.
The Cardinals shot a sizzling 64 percent (34-53), including eight-of-13 from three-point range and shot 75 percent overall in the second half (18-24), while Carthage shot 51 percent (30-59), including nine-of-22 three-pointers. The Red Men got to the free-throw line 18 times and made 13, while the Cardinals connected on 11-of-20. North Central out-rebounded Carthage by a 34-20 margin.
Three Cardinal starters scored in double figures, with Jayme Moten leading the way with 20 points on a perfect seven-of-seven field goals, including five-of-five three-pointers. Charles Rosenberg had 19 points on eight-of-14 field goals, along with four assists, and Jack Burchett scored 16 points on eight-of-10 shooting, along with a game-high 11 rebounds and five assists. Carthage's Donte Logan (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) played probably his best collegiate game with career-high 28 points on 11-of-13 from the floor, including two-of-three three-pointers, along with four-of-six free throws, four rebounds and 10 assists. It was Logan's second-straight game with 10 assists. Ellis Matthews (Jr., Libertyville, Ill.) had 14 points, and Cameron Van Wyk (Sr., Wassenaar, Netherlands) added 13 points.
"This is a difficult game to explain," admitted Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "I just watched it, and I still don't know if I can explain it. I thought our effort was terrific, but in an 87-82 game, you have to rebound the basketball, and you have to block some shots. We were incapable of doing either. We have to do a better job. They shot 65 percent against all kinds of defense tonight. This was disappointing—I expected to win this game. I have no quarrels with this team, but we have to play better."
Carthage travels to Wheaton, Ill., on Saturday, Jan. 24 to take on conference-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 8-9, 1-5 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at King Arena.