The Carthage College men's basketball team (8-14, 2-9 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) lost to No. 2 Augustana College (Ill., 21-1, 10-1 CCIW), 69-47, on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Roy J. Carver Physical Education Center in Rock Island, Ill.  The Vikings, who are eyeing their 15th league title, as well as the home court for the Feb. 26-27 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament, have won nine in a row.  The Red Men have lost nine of their last 10 games.
 
The Augustana game ended a week of playing two top-10 teams, both on the road, with Carthage losing to No. 9 Elmhurst College, 96-70, on Wednesday.  Three weeks ago, the Red Men played the same two teams at home.  Carthage fell to then-No.2 Elmhurst, 78-58, on Jan, 13 before losing to then-No. 3 Augustana (Ill.) by a 71-63 margin.
 
In Saturday's contest, Augustana opened up a 15-point lead midway through the first half, 24-9, at 9:44.  Carthage cut the margin to 10 points, 26-16, at 4:31, but the Vikings closed out the period with a 10-2 run.  Tayvian Johnson's dunk at 1:19 capped that run and gave Augustana an 18-point lead at halftime, 36-18.  The Vikings shot 60 percent in the first half (15-of-25), with the Red Men shooting just 24 percent (7-of-29), including two-of-11 from three-point range.
 
Augustana opened the second half with a 16-5 run to expand its lead to 29 points, 52-23, at 11:06 and were never seriously threatened.  The Vikings wound up winning by 22 points, 69-47.
 
Augustana shot 53 percent (29-of-55), including seven-of-20 from three-point range, while Carthage was limited to 28 percent shooting (16-of-58), including four-of-21 three-pointers.  Augustana lead the league in both scoring margin (18.1 points per game entering the contest) and scoring defense (61.7 points per game). The Vikings got to free-throw line just five times but made four, while the Red Men connected on 11-of-17.  Augustana had a narrow, 37-35 rebounding advantage, with both teams turning the ball over 13 times.
 
Three Vikings scored in double figures, with Hunter Hill (Sr., Byron, Ill.) leading the way with a game-high 16 points on six-of-nine field goals, including four-of-six three-pointers.  Brandon Motzel (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) scored 14 points on seven-of-nine shooting, along with a game-high nine rebounds, and Jawan Straughter (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield-East) added 11 points and five boards.  Mike Leazer (Sr., Mount Prospect, Ill./Niles-Northridge Prep) led Carthage with nine points on four-of-eight field goals, while Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) had eight points and six rebounds.
 
After three-straight road games, Carthage returns home this Wednesday, Feb. 10 to play host to No. 18 North Central College (16-6, 9-2 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  The Cardinals, who defeated Illinois Wesleyan University, 89-69, on Saturday, are tied for second place in the league with No. 9 Elmhurst College (19-3, 9-2).