Men’s Basketball Drops Nail-Biter at Carthage

The Illinois Tech Men’s Basketball team traveled to southeastern Wisconsin on January 10 for a matchup of two 10-win teams. In a contest that went down to the final possession, Carthage College defeated the Scarlet Hawks 81-79.

How it Happened

  • No team was able to lead by more than three points in the early going until Carthage, the current leaders in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, went on a 6-0 run to go up 17-11 at the 12:20 mark.
  • Illinois Tech was able to fight back in the half and take a 27-24 lead before a 7-0 run put Carthage back ahead. The Red Men led 37-34 going into the intermission.
  • Samuel Rarick hit the first basket of the half to bring the Hawks within one, but Carthage would proceed to build its lead. The Red Men advantage in the second half reached as high as 13, leading 61-48 with 10:26 to play.
  • Illinois Tech, however, would find a way back into the contest. Anthony Mosley Jr. scored 16 points over the next eight minutes as the Scarlet Hawks trimmed the lead to one at 76-75 with 2:39 to play.
  • After a Carthage free throw with 57 seconds left, Jake Digiorgio scored on a lay-up to tie things at 77. The Red Men would split two pairs of free throws before Rarick hit a key basket with 11 seconds remaining to tie the score at 79-79.
  • Carthage was able to hit two free throws after an Illinois Tech foul, giving Illinois Tech one last look with 3.9 seconds to go. The Scarlet Hawks were unable to find a good shot on the final possession as time expired.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

  • Playing all 40 minutes for the fourth game in a row, Mosley Jr. tallied 24 points and 10 assists for his third double-double of the season. He was 11-of-13 from the free throw line.  
  • Rarick tallied 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds.
  • Malik Howze added 16 points on seven-of-11 shooting to go along with four assists.

Stats to Know

  • Both teams were an even 18-of-23 from the foul line (78.3%) and committed 20 fouls.
  • Both teams also hit the same amount of three-point baskets (five) despite Carthage shooting seven more shots from beyond the arc (21 for Carthage, 14 for Illinois Tech).
  • The Red Men made one more field goal (29) than Illinois Tech (28) and outrebounded the Scarlet Hawks by 10 (41-31).

Up Next

  • After eight days off from competition, the Scarlet Hawks will take on another tough regional opponent on Wednesday, January 18. Illinois Tech will travel down I-88 to take on Aurora University at 5:15 p.m.