Box Score The Carthage College men's basketball team (3-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), ranked 44th in the Dec. 3 "D3hoops.com" poll, lost a barn-burner to Cardinal Stritch University (8-2), 70-69, on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  The Wolves are the defending-national-champions in the NAIA Division II and ranked fourth in that division's Dec. 3 poll.
 
Carthage had a three-point lead midway thru the first half, 21-18, at 10:38, but Cardinal Stritch took over, 22-21, at 9:34.  The Wolves took an 11-point lead, 32-21, at 5:34 on a four-point play by Tony Smit, and led by nine at the break, 40-31.  The Red Men chipped away at the lead in the second half, pulling to within five, 44-39, at 16:32 and two points, 51-49, at 9:53.  The Wolves went back up by seven, 58-51, at 7:06, but a 10-3 Carthage run tied the game at 61-61 following a layup by Cameron Van Wyk at 3:25. 
 
A three-pointer by Cardinal Stritch' Chad Mazur at 2:56 put the Wolves up, 64-61.  Carthage's Donte Logan scored on back-to-back layups at 2:39 and 2:08 to put Carthage up by a point, 65-64.  Another Wolves three-pointer, this one by Derek Semenas at 1:47 gave Cardinal Stritch a 67-65 lead.  The Red Men's Reese Herth scored on back-to-back layups, the first at 1:25 and the second with 50 seconds to go, and Carthage led by two, 69-67. 

Yet another clutch three-pointer by Derek Semenas with 38 seconds remaining put the Wolves up by a point, 70-69.  The Red Men missed two field-goal attempts with just over 20 seconds to go, and Carthage had the ball at their own baseline with eight seconds on the clock.  After getting the ball upcourt, Donte Logan was only able to get a wild, three-point attempt launched as the horn went off.
 
Carthage shot 44 percent (24-55), including five-of-15 three-pointers, while Cardinal Stritch shot 49 percent (28-57), including seven-of-15 from three-point range.  The  Red Men got to the free-throw line 21 times and made 16, while the Wolves connected on seven-of-12 from the line.  Carthage out-rebounded Cardinal Stritch, 38-25. 

Three Red Men starters scored in double figures, with Donte Logan (Jr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) leading the way with a game-high 20 points on eight-of-14 field goals and a perfect three-of-three free throws, along with five rebounds and five assists.  Reese Herth (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) had 19 points on seven-of-15 shooting and four-of-four free throws, while Marlon Senior (Sr., Skokie, Ill./Niles North) added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Magd Owayed led Cardinal Stritch with 18 points.  Derek Semenas had 16 points, Tony Smit 11 points and seven assists, and Tyler Semenas added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
"We had enough time to execute a play at the end of the game," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "but you have to take the ball end-to-end better than that.  We lost to a very good basketball team .  They'll win 28 or 29 games.  Tyler Semenas hurt us in the first half with 10 rebounds, five on the offensive boards.  Our offensive execution at the end of the first half was bad, and we were chasing.  We made better decisions in the second half, but we turned the ball over too much.  This was a good ball game, it just didn't work out.  Calvin is a great place to play, but this weekend's CCIW/MIAA Challenge is going to be a very tough weekend."
  
Carthage travels to Grand Rapids, Mich., this weekend for the 10th annual CCIW/MIAA Challenge at Calvin College's Van Noord Arena.  The Red Men take on No. 11 Calvin (5-1) on Friday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. (all times EST), with Wheaton College (Ill., 4-2) playing Hope College (1-3) at 6 p.m.  On Saturday, Dec. 7, Carthage meets Hope at 1 p.m., with Calvin playing Wheaton (Ill.) at 3 p.m.