CHICAGO - The Carthage College men's basketball team dropped their final non-conference matchup of the season on Saturday night on the south side of Chicago, as the Red Men overcame an 18-point first half deficit before falling in overtime at the Scarlet Hawks of the Illinois Institute of Technology, 86-80.

The loss second loss in as many games sends the Red Men to 7-6 on the season, while the Scarlet Hawks improve to 10-4.

"Again, very, very disappointing and getting to the point where it's a little bit redundant." said head coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "We don't want to be in this situation, but we have put ourselves in the position that you win the conference championship or you don't get to play later.  There is no one to blame but ourselves.  We didn't respect the game as well as we should have.  For the most part, we played very well late.  Some good individual efforts; Thomas, Kruse and TJ Best each did really good jobs all the way around and yet a very disappointing finish.  We are back at it Monday.  Nobody feels sorry for us so it is back to work Monday."

A pair of Red Men finished with 20-plus points, as Jordan Thomas had a team-high 26 points and Brad Kruse finished with 22.  Joining Thomas and Kruse in double figures were Brad Perry and Derek Mason with 12 and ten respectively.  Kruse also had 12 rebounds to give him his second double-double of the season.

The Red Men struggled out of the gate for the second-straight game, as Carthage was just one for their first eleven field goals and quickly in a double-digit hole, trailing 14-3, 6:28 into the game.  IIT found success in the paint in the first half, earning a 18-14 advantage inside, and eventually building an 18-point first half lead at 32-14 with 6:24 remaining.  

Carthage started to get things going offensively from there, as they outscored the the Scarlet Hawks 16-6 over the final 6:09 to head into the break down, 38-30.  

After the 1-11 start from the field Carthage finished with half 10 for their final 22 from the field, allowing the Red Men to stay within grasp, despite IIT shooting 42.9% on 15-35 from the field.  Brad Kruse led the Red Men in the first half with eight points on 3-6 shooting.

The Scarlet Hawks would come out in the second half and push the lead back up to 12, 52-40, with 13:08 remaining before Carthage began to chop away at it.  The Red Men then went on a run over the next 5:24, as Carthage went on a 16-5 run to draw within three at 59-56 and then getting it to one at 64-63 with 5:15 left in the game.  

The Scarlet Hawks and Red Men would then exchange baskets over the next four minutes, with the Red Men never being able to get over the hump, but keeping the deficit close.  Trailing by six with 1:45 left in regulation, Jordan Thomas sparked a 6-0 Red Men run, hitting a layup with :16 seconds left to tie the game at 72-72.  With neither team taking a timeout, TJ Best marked up with Anthony Mosley Jr. in a one-on-one matchup which Best shutdown the Scarlet Hawks second leading scorer to force overtime.

Unfortunately, the Red Men were never able to take a lead in regulation or overtime, and 7-9 free throws by the Scarlet Hawks in the extra five minutes doomed Carthage to the defeat.

For IIT, Jake Digiorgio led all players with 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, including 12 offensive, to lead the Scarlet Hawks in the win.

The Red Men will return to action on Wednesday, January 10th at Tarble Arena, as the men's basketball team hosts Carroll University at 7:00 p.m.