ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Carthage College Red Men dropped a heartbreaker in Rock Island on Saturday night, as #3 Augustana College overcame a halftime deficit to top the Red Men on a last second layup, 69-68.
The loss drops the Red Men to 7-9 on the season and to 2-5 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while the #2 Vikings improve to 15-1 and remain undefeated in the league at 7-0.
Kienan Baltimore, who played a game-high 39 minutes, led all players with 30 points in the loss, going 10-17 from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line for his second 30-point game of the season. Baltimore also tied for the game-high in boards with
Mike Canady, with eight rebounds and registered a team-high four assists.
Sean Johnson finished with 15 points on 5-8 shooting and tallied five blocks in the loss, while
Jordon Kedrowski added 13 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-4 from three.
In the first half, the Red Men turned in a complete performance to build a seven-point, 45-38, halftime break lead. The Red Men went 17-25 from the field, 5-7 from three and a perfect 6-6 from the line in the opening 20 minutes. Carthage won the battle on the boards with 15-9 advantage and won the battle in the paint 22-16. Tied at 36-36 with 1:54 remaining in the half, Carthage closed the half on a 9-2 run, seven points of which came from Baltimore, to take their largest lead into the break. Baltimore led the Red Men in the half with 22 points on 7-9 shooting, which included 2-3 from deep and was responsible for all-six free throws.
The Red Men pushed their lead to eight out of the break but an 11-2 run by the Vikings quickly brought the game back to even at 53-53 with 11:30 left in regulation. I would remain a one-possession game the rest of the way with the Red Men getting a huge defensive stand in the final minute to set Carthage up, down one with the ball and 19 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, the Red Men drew a foul that sent
Sean Johnson to the free throw line, where he knocked down both to put Carthage up 68-67 with 5.5 seconds remaining. However, the defense couldn't get the stop on the next Augustana possession, as Nolan Ebel went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup with .9 seconds left and the 69-68 win.
As a team, the Red Men finished 24-48 from the field and 7-18 from three, but struggled in the second half, connecting on just 7-23 field goals and 2-11 three-point attempts. Carthage also finished 13-14 from the free throw line and were plus-seven in the rebounding battle, 36-29. Augie finished 28-65 from the field and 9-22 from three.
The Red Men will return to the road for the second game of their three-game CCIW road trip on Wednesday, January 16th when Carthage heads to North Central College. Tip-off Wednesday is set for 7:00 p.m. from Naperville.
