The Carthage College men's basketball team (8-12, 2-7 CCIW) lost its seventh game in its last eight contests on Saturday, Jan. 30, falling to Illinois Wesleyan University (11-9, 5-4 CCIW), 69-60, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  "Illinois Wesleyan is a solid basketball team, and they play nicely together," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.

Illinois Wesleyan never trailed in the first half, although the game was close.  The Titans led by as much as seven on three occasions in the first 15 minutes and edged out to a 10-point lead, 26-16, at 2:29.  Illinois Wesleyan led by 11 points at halftime, 30-19, as Carthage shot only 21 percent in the period (6-of-29), including just one-of-13 from three-point range.

Illinois Wesleyan upped its lead to 14 points, 33-19, at the start of the second half and went up by 15, 43-28, at 15:07.  The Red Men whittled the lead down to eight points on five occasions in the final 11 minutes, including 68-60 with 40 seconds left, but the Titans went on to win by nine points, 69-60.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 44 percent (24-of-54), including nine-of-24 three-pointers, while Carthage shot just 33 percent (20-of-61), including just four-of-26 from three.  The Titans got to free-throw line 18 times and made 12, while the Red Men converted 16-of-21.  Carthage out-rebounded Illinois Wesleyan by a 40-37 margin.

Three Titans scored in double figures, with Bryce Dolan coming off the bench to score 14 points on four-of-10 field goals, including three-of-six three-pointers, along with three-of-three free throws and four assists.  Trevor Seibring had 12 points on five-of-nine shooting, along with four rebounds, while Joel Pennington added 11 points and four assists. 

Three Carthage players scored in double figures, with Tony Pierce Jr. (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) collecting a game-high 15 points on five-of-12 field goals, including one-of-seven from three-point range, along with four-of-four free throws.  Kiston Lee (Sr., Decatur, Ill./MacArthur) had 12 points on five-of-eight shooting, along with a game-high and a career-high 16 rebounds, including six offensive boards.  Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) chipped in 11 points.

"If you shoot four-for-26 from three point against a good team, you're not likely to come out on top," said Djurickovic.  "We held them to 44 percent shooting.  That's a good job, and we out-rebounded them.  Kiston Lee was wonderful tonight—that was the best game of his career.  He played hard on both ends of the court.  We only turned the ball over times, but we only had five assists, which means the ball wasn't moving correctly.  We had played two nice games in a row, and I thought, coming in, we had a chance to get something done.  Unfortunately, we were never in a position to put them behind the eight ball.  It's very disappointing. 

Carthage travels to Elmhurst, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to play No. 6 Elmhurst College (17-3, 7-2 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at R.A. Faganel Hall.  The Bluejays were an 85-56 winner over Millikin University on Saturday in Elmhurst.  On Saturday, the Red Men travel to Rock Island, Ill., to take on No. 2 Augustana College (Ill.) in a 7 p.m. contest at the Roy J. Carver Physical Education Center.  "We have another tough week coming up," admitted Djurickovic.  "We just have to keep plugging away."