The Carthage College men's basketball team (1-1, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) fell to Adrian College (2-0), 69-59, on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 14 in the championship game of the Carthage Classic at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  Iowa Wesleyan University (1-1) won over Robert Morris University-Peoria (0-2), 96-89, in Saturday's consolation game.

Carthage opened its season on Friday night, Nov. 13 with an 86-84 overtime win over Iowa Wesleyan (0-1) in the opening round of the tournament, while Adrian (1-0) upended Robert Morris-Peoria (0-1), 105-76, in the other first-round contest.

In the title game, Adrian jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first half, 36-19, at 2:27 and led by 11 points at the break, 37-26.  The Red Men connected on just one-of-13 three-pointers in the period, while the Bulldogs hit on six-of-12.

Carthage whittled the lead down to eight points on several occasions in the second half, but Adrian went back up by 15, 59-44, at 8:07 on a layup by Venson Bryant.  The Red Men used a 15-6 run in the final eight minutes to cut the margin to six points, 65-59, at 2:17, but a jumper by DeVonte Harris at 1:02 and a pair of free throws by Harris with 27 seconds left iced the game for Adrian at 69-59.

The Bulldogs shot 42 percent (26-62), including seven-of-21 from three-point range, while the Red Men shot just 40 percent (23-58), including four-of-20 three-pointers.  Adrian got to the free-throw line 21 times but made just seven, while Carthage connected on nine-of-13.  The Bulldogs enjoyed a 43-33 rebounding advantage.

Adrian's Christian Covile led all scorers with 24 points on eight-of-12 field goals, along with a perfect seven-of-seven from the free-throw line, along with a game-high 13 rebounds.  DeVonte Harris added 19 points on seven-of-17 shooting, along with five boards.  Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) was the lone Carthage player in double figures with 14 points on seven-of-13 field goals, along with seven rebounds.  Jordon Kedrowski (Fr., Bolingbrook Ill./Downers Grove-North), who scored 27 points in his collegiate debut on Friday, was limited to six points in the title game.

Adrian's Christian Covile was named the tournament MVP.  Teammate DeVonte Harris was also named to the all-tournament team, along with Carthage's Mike Stevenson, Iowa Wesleyan's Mitchell Drey and Myles Coleman from Robert Morris-Peoria.

"This would have been a great win," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, "instead, it was a good learning experience.  We're not at a stage where you can get a win without playing your "A" game.  Adrian contests everything on the perimeter, and they give you the drive to the basket.  We also had a bad shooting night.  Christian Covile is as good a player as we'll see year.  He's a 6-4, 200 pound guy who can play inside or outside.  We have to do a better job of limiting our opponent's opportunities.  Adrian got a lot of second-chance baskets."  (courtesy of the Kenosha News).

Carthage travels to Ashland, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 21 to take on Northland College in a 3 p.m. game at the Kendrigan Center.