ELMHURST, Ill. - The 22nd-ranked Carthage College men's basketball team experienced a slight setback, losing 74-59 on the road to Elmhurst, ranked No. 21 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

• Final score: Elmhurst 74 - Carthage 59
• Location: Elmhusrt, Illinois -  R.A. Faganel Hall 
• Records: Elmhurst 8-0 (3-0 CCIW), Carthage 7-2 (2-1 CCIW)

• Fillip Bulatovic initiated the game with a hook shot, propelling the Firebirds to an early 9-5 lead.
• Elmhurst seized the lead, reaching 19-12 with a three-pointer.
• By 5:25, the home team extended their advantage to 28-19.
• Closing out the first half, Elmhurst concluded with a 12-4 run, resulting in a halftime score of 40-23.
• Colton Sigel contributed with a pullup jumper for a 54-34 in the second half.
• Julian Campbell narrowed the gap to 15 with a pair of free throws with 7:40 left.
• Despite Griffin Daun's layup cutting the deficit to 13, Elmhurst secured the victory with a final score of 74-59. 

• First-year student-athlete Ryan Johnson led the scoring charge for the Firebirds, tallying a new season-best of 20 points.
• Julian Campbell recorded his third double-double of the season, adding 13 points and securing 12 rebounds.
• Additionally, AJ Williams contributed 10 points for Carthage and achieved a season-high seven rebounds.

"I am proud of the way we competed today. Elmhurst is an excellent, well-coached basketball team that stresses you in many different ways. They space the floor on offense better than anyone we've seen and get after you on the defensive end of the floor. 

I thought there were some positives to take away from today. We held Elmhurst to their lowest shooting percentage game of the season and outrebounded them by seven! They were coming in plus nine per game. 

At the end of the day, we just didn't make enough plays needed to win a road CCIW game against a Top 25 team. We struggled from the three-point and free-throw lines today, which can't happen if you want to win on the road. 

Ryan Johnson was terrific on both ends of the floor, and AJ Williams fought to make John Ittounas work for all his points. 

A few days off for Finals week, then back to Tarble for Illinois Tech. We need to bounce back."

• The Firebirds return to Tarble Arena on Friday, December 15 facing IIT at 6 p.m.