ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team rallied but came up short in the closing seconds, falling to Carthage College 81-77 at R.A. Faganel Hall.

The loss drops Elmhurst, ranked eighth in the latest D3hoops.com poll, to 18-3 overall and 9-3 in the CCIW. Elmhurst slid out of first place in the CCIW standings by a half game (North Central was idle) and fell into a second-place tie with Augustana (9-3 CCIW).
 
The game was close throughout as neither team led by more than seven points at any point in the contest. Elmhurst grabbed a 15-11 lead early only to see Carthage (13-7, 5-6 CCIW) score the next five points and pull in front at 16-15. The two squads traded buckets for the next seven minutes with Carthage leading by just two (29-27) with 5:40 remaining. The Red Men pushed their lead up six points (36-30) with 4:44 left and carried a 43-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Carthage quickly pushed its lead up seven points on two occasions early in the second half. Elmhurst battled back to pull even at 54-54 after a Jay Militello three-pointer, but Carthage answered back with six straight points to reclaim the lead with eight minutes remaining. Elmhurst rattled off a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to take a 65-64 lead following two free throws from Jake Rhode, but it would be the final time the Bluejays would lead the contest. Carthage slowly rebuilt a six-point cushion at 78-72 with 1:15 remaining, but Elmhurst responded with one last rally.

Rhode knocked down a jumper with 58 seconds left to pull Elmhurst to within four. Rhode promptly stole the ball on Carthage's ensuing possession and Derek Dotlich drilled a three-pointer to pull Elmhurst to within a point with just 49 seconds left. Carthage turned the ball over to Elmhurst with 44 seconds left, but Rhode's shot was off target with 38 seconds remaining and Carthage grabbed the rebound. The Red Men missed a free throw with 19 seconds left and Militello stole the rebound away from Carthage to give Elmhurst another chance, but Dotlich's three-point attempt was blocked by Carthage. The Red Men hit three free throws in the closing seconds to earn the four-point win.
 
Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the floor. The Bluejays struggled from three-point distance, hitting just 9-of-32 attempts (28.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Carthage finished the game shooting 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from three-point range. The Red Men outrebounded the Bluejays 43-36 and Carthage's bench outscored Elmhurst's reserved 23-6.
 
Lavon Thomas led Elmhurst in the loss, pouring in a team-leading 23 points while also totaling eight rebounds and four assists, both team highs. Dotlich finished with 19 points while Rhode totaled 15 for the Bluejays. Nick Perry added nine points for Elmhurst while Militello totaled five points and five rebounds.
 
Carthage was led by Kienan Baltimore's 27 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Kedrowski and Fillip Bulatovic each finished with 10 points while Sean Johnson totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Elmhurst will travel to North Central College on Saturday, February 8.