Box Score The Carthage College men's basketball team (4-4, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) lost to Coe College (4-2), 70-63, on Friday night, Dec. 7 at Moray Eby Fieldhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The game was the home-opener for the Kohawks.
 
Carthage scored the first basket but fell behind, 7-2, and eventually, 24-12, at 7:05.  Coe still led by 12, 31-19, at 2:14 before the Red Men closed to six points, 32-26, at halftime.  The Kohawks went back up by 12, 40-28, at 17:36, before the Red Men got it back to six points, 40-34, at 14:06.  Coe resumed its 12-point margin, 46-34, at 12:44, but a 22-8 Carthage run made it a two-point game, 58-56, at 5:13 following a jumper by Reese Herth.  An 8-2 run put the Kohawks up by eight, 66-58 at 2:19.  The Red Men got as close at five points, 68-63, with 21 seconds left on a three-pointer by Donte Logan, but Coe went on to win by seven, 70-63.
 
Coe shot 40 percent (20-50), including eight-of-19 three-pointers, while Carthage shot 38 percent (24-64), including seven-of-26 from three-point range.  Calvin had a 37-29 rebounding edge.  The Kohawks had a 43-34 rebounding advantage and converted 22-of-31 free throws, while went to line just 11 times, making eight of those.  Coe's David Mataloni led all scorers with 17 points on five-of-11 field goals, including three-of-four from three-point range, along with four-of-six from the free-throw line and seven rebounds.  Andrew Wirth had 10 points, including seven-of-eight free throws, along with seven assists.
 
Four Carthage players scored in double figures.  Reese Herth (So., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) led the Red Men with 14 points on six-of-13 shooting, including two-of-eight three-pointers.  Donte Logan (So., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) had 12 points and five assists, Mitch Thompson (Sr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tyler Pierce (Sr., Westmont, Ill.) added 10 points. 

Carthage was without the services of two post players.  Starting center Luke Johnson (So., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy) didn't accompany the team due to back trouble, and backup Steve Jaskulske (Sr., Racine, Wis./Case) is out for the year after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in last Friday's game versus Hope College at the CCIW/MIAA Classic in Wheaton, Ill.
 
“We continue to play good teams,” said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, “and we're a good basketball team, but we're not getting over the hump to be a really good basketball team.  Only time will tell about that.  We had poor execution on offense, and frankly, that was a poor design by me.  They challenged us to shoot, we shot, and they didn't go in.  We had a good effort, it was a good ball game, just not good enough.  We have four weeks left before conference, and we need to use that time to for better conditioning.  We practice hard, but we're not practicing at the pace we want to play at.  We need to be an extended defensive team, because we're not a good half-court team.  We need to be a little more efficient at what we do.”
 
The Red Men travel to West Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 17-18 for the Northwood University (Fla.) “English Family Classic” at the Northwood Student Life Center.  Carthage plays the host-Seahawks (10-1 and ranked fifth in the Dec. 12 NAIA national poll), headed by former Villanova University coach Rollie Massimino, on Monday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. (all times EST), with St. Thomas University (9-2 and ranked 18th in the NAIA poll) taking on Truett-McConnell College (2-9) at 5 p.m., EST.  On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the Red Men play on St. Thomas (Fla.) at 5 p.m., and Northwood (Fla.) plays Truett-McDonnell at 7 p.m.