The Carthage College men's basketball team (7-14, 3-8 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) lost its sixth-straight game on Saturday, Feb. 7, falling to CCIW-opponent and No. 6 Augustana College (Ill., 18-4, 8-3 CCIW), 60-29, at the Roy J. Carver Center in Rock Island, Ill.  Carthage's 29 points was the program's lowest point total since losing a 36-23 game to Burlington Junior College on Dec. 4, 1945 in Carthage, Ill.
 
Carthage simply could not make a basket against Augustana's defense in the first half.  The Red Men went the first 17 minutes and 43 seconds without a field goal before Mike Stevenson nailed a three-pointer from the left-corner at 2:17.  Meanwhile, the Vikings built a quick, 17-point lead, 19-2, at 11:18.  The margin went to 24 points, 33-9, just before Stevenson broke the drought.  Augustana led by 26 points at halftime, 38-12.  The Red Men connected on one-of-15 field goals in the first half, while the Vikings hit on 15-of-31. The Augustana lead went to 30 points in the second half, 53-23, at 7:33, as the Vikings cruised to a 31-point victory, 60-29.
 
Augustana shot 38 percent (23-60), including three-of-19 three-pointers, while Carthage shot just 13 percent (6-45), including two-of-15 three-pointers  The Vikings got to the free-throw line 13 times and made 11, while the Red Men connected on 15-of-21.  Augustana won the rebounding battle by a 46-35 margin.
 
Brandon Motzel came off the Viking bench to score a team-high 11 points on five-of-eight shooting, along with seven rebounds.  Starter Hunter Hill had 10 points on four-of-nine field goals.  Kiston Lee (Sr., Decatur, Ill./MacArthur) led Carthage with eight points.
 
"This was a no contest," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "They were way better. They executed, and we did not.  We started the game playing scared, and you can't do that against a physical team like Augustana.  They play correctly, and you have to be able to meet the challenge.  I thought we played OK defensively, but offensively, we had no chance.  They made it difficult for our shot makers, and we were not able to do anything about it.  We couldn't get the ball to right spots, and as a result, we forced up a lot of shots.  We have three games left, and anyone of those could go either way."
 
The Red Men travel to Naperville, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 11 to take on conference-opponent North Central College (16-6, 6-5 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. contest at Merner Fieldhouse/Gregory Arena.