BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In Saturday's action, the Carthage College men's basketball team fell to Illinois Wesleyan 71-63 in their first matchup of the season. 

• Final score: Illinois Wesleyan 71 - Carthage 63
• Location: Bloomington, Illinois - Shirk Center
• Records: Illinois Wesleyan 10-6 (6-1 CCIW), Carthage 11-5 (5-2 CCIW)

• Illinois Wesleyan initiated the game with a formidable 17-2 run, but Antuan Nesbitt responded with a floater at 14:21 of the half.
• Colton Sigel's consecutive three-pointers narrowed the gap to seven points with 13:19 remaining in the first half. 
• Ryan Johnson added a three-pointer at the 7:01 mark, reducing the Illinois Wesleyan lead to 15.
• As the first half progressed, layups from Nesbitt and Griffin Daun brought Carthage to a halftime score of 36-25, trailing by 13. 
• Carthage started the second half strong, narrowing the Titan advantage to five with another layup from Nesbitt, resulting in a score of 43-38.
• Although Illinois Wesleyan extended their lead to 11, layups from Nesbitt and Sigel brought the Firebirds back to a score of 51-47 with 9:30 remaining.
• The visitors managed to get as close as four points, but the home team regained control, pushing the margin back to 12. 
• Ultimately, Illinois Wesleyan secured a 71-63 victory.

• Antuan Nesbitt led Carthage in scoring, finishing the day with 19 points and six rebounds.
• Fillip Bulatovic dominated the boards for the Firebirds, securing a season-high 17 rebounds and 12 points.
• First-year student-athlete Ryan Johnson made a significant contribution, totaling 11 points while grabbing seven rebounds and recording two steals.

"We always emphasize how hard it is to win on the road in the CCIW. We made it even more difficult tonight by putting ourselves in a 17-2 hole to start the game. I thought we had some good looks in that stretch that unfortunately didn't go in, and we were forced to chase for the final 32 minutes. 

Illinois Wesleyan is a big, physical basketball team that can really guard. We were able to cut the lead to four with under eight minutes to go, but they made a few big shots to extend it back to 10. 

We have a huge home game on Wednesday vs Carroll. Have a chance to finish the first half of the conference slate 6-2! We need to have two really good days of practice next week!"

• Carthage returns home facing Carroll (Wis.) on Wednesday, January 17 at 7 p.m.