The Carthage College men's basketball team (7-13, 3-7 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost its fifth-straight game on Wednesday, Feb. 4, falling to CCIW-opponent and No. 19 Elmhurst College (17-4, 7-3 CCIW), 78-75, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

Carthage took an early six-point lead, 13-7, at 12:13 and still led by one, 21-20, at 4:58 first half.  Elmhurst took over, 22-21, at 4:47 on a layup by Kenny Payonk, and the Bluejays led by four at halftime 30-26.  Elmhurst used a 29-16 run to start the second half to take its biggest lead of the game at 17 points, 59-42, at 7:50.  Carthage launched a spirited comeback with a 20-7 run of its own to make it a four-point game, 66-62, at 1:03.  The Bluejays went back up by seven, 76-69, with 17 seconds left and went on to win by three points, 78-75/

Elmhurst shot 51 percent (29-57), including a phenomenal 73 percent in the second half (16-22), and three-of-11 total from three-point range, while Carthage shot 47 percent (28-60), including eight-of-24 three-pointers  The Bluejays got to the free-throw line 20 times and made 17, while the Red Men connected on 11-of-18.  Elmhurst won the rebounding battle by a 39-27 margin.

Five Bluejays scored in double figures, with Kyle Wuest leading the way with 17 points on five-of-19 field goals, along with six-of-six free throws and five assists.  Erik Crittendon came off the bench to score 16 points on eight-of-13 shooting, along with six boards.  Brandon Schwebke had 12 points, with Will Nixon and Eric Leonard adding 11 points each, the former with seven rebounds. 

Donte Logan (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) led the Red Men with 17 points on six-of-11 field goals, including two-of-three from three-point range, along with three-of-six free throws, four rebounds and six assists.  Mike Stevenson (So., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) scored 13 points, and Mike Leazer (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Niles-Northridge Prep), making his first start of the year, chipped in 11 points with four rebounds.

"It feels like we're watching a rerun every night with a similar script" said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "We don't come out and play very well at the start, and then we battle like crazy in the second half, only to come up a basket or two short.  That was the story tonight.  We played a wonderful second half, but they shot great in the second half and made all of their free throws.  We had too many missed assignments in the first half.  Kiston Lee made a couple of big baskets for us when we were scuffling in the second half.  He's a good kid who cares what goes on.  It's a matter of pride now, how we finish this season."

The Red Men travel to Rock Island, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 7 to take on conference-opponent and No. 6 Augustana College (Ill., 17-4, 7-3 CCIW)) in a 7 p.m. contest at the Roy J. Carver Center.