WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University men's basketball team suffered its third straight loss on Wednesday night against the Carthage College Firebirds in Van Male Field House by a score of 73-78. Four Pioneers scored in double digits, led by 16 points from Josh Hudgens. Justin Steinike added 14 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and two steals.
 
The Pioneers (4-11, 0-6 CCIW) hit 48.1% of their shots and went 14-24 in the second half to mount a 41-point period. Carroll's free throw shooting kept them close with Carthage, finishing 19-24 at the line. The Pio bench scored 38 of the team's total points, led by Trenton Nickel's 15 and Justin Gruber's 10. The Pioneers came away with nine steals tonight, led by Aaron Wafford's three, to help contribute to 10 points from turnovers. Carroll led in the contest for 12:40 in the second half but surrendered the lead for the last time with under two minutes to play.
 
Carthage exploded to a 9-2 lead less than two minutes into the ball game. Gruber knocked down a three-pointer after a time out to get Carroll back on the board. The Firebirds led by as much as nine points, but back-to-back layups from Eckahelo Simpson helped trim the deficit. The Pioneers kept chopping away at the Firebird lead, finishing the first half down just two points. Simpson led the way with nine points on 4-5 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
 
Carroll came out of the break on a mission, starting a 6-2 run to take their first lead of the game as they forced a Carthage timeout. Nickel's first three-pointer of the game gave Carroll a six-point advantage just three minutes into the final frame. A subsequent Carthage 10-2 run gave them back the lead momentarily before Steinike scored five straight points with 12:25 to play. Carroll went without a field goal for the next four minutes before Gruber scored in the paint with 8:34 remaining. Carroll's lead was back up to six with 5:33 left, but six straight Firebird points in less than a minute tied the game. Carthage took the lead back thanks to free throws with 1:29 left and held the lead the remainder of the game off Carroll's foul trouble.
 
The Pioneers travel to Chicago this weekend for another CCIW battle against the Vikings of North Park.