ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Carthage College men's basketball team dropped a close thriller 83-81 to No. 25 Augustana (Ill.) in the Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) action Saturday at Carver PE Center.
The Vikings (17-7, 11-4 CCIW) opened with a small five-point lead to begin the first half before the Red Men (15-8, 7-7 CCIW) put together a 16-4 run to take control of the game at 24-17. Augustana (Ill.) battled regain the lead with a layup to make it 24-23 with seven minutes remaining in the half. Back-to-back layups from Brad Perry and Michael Huff put the visitors up six as Carthage went into the intermission break up 42-35.
To begin the second half, the Vikings came out with five unanswered points to narrow the gap to 42-40 forcing a Red Men timeout. Augustana (Ill.) later tied the game at 48, however, a bucket from Jordon Kedrowski put Carthage up 52-50 with 13:28 left. The Vikings took the lead with a 13-6 run, switching the score to 63-58. With Augustana (Ill.) up 68-61, a free throw Kienan Baltimore and bucket from Jacob Polglase cut the advantage to two at the 7:15 mark.
Crishawn Cook later sank two free throws to knot it at 68 but The Vikings regained the lead controlling a 78-72 advantage with 3:06 remaining. Following a timeout, the Red Men cut the lead to one and again tied it at 80. Augustana (Ill.) sank a clutch bucket with 13 seconds left taking a 82-80 margin. Vikings added a free throw as Cook put in a free throw of his own with two seconds left to cut the margin to two. After missing the second attempt, Carthage had a chance to force overtime but an Augustana (Ill.) block sealed the victory 83-81.
The Red Men stay on the road traveling to No. 11 North Central on Wednesday, February 19 beginning at 7 p.m.
"Disappointing finish to an excellent college basketball game. I thought we competed for the entire 40 minutes but made a few to many mistakes on both ends of the floor which makes the difference in a two point game. Strange final 10 seconds is an understatement. Last week of the regular season coming up. Will be ready for a big game in Naperville on Wednesday."
