ELMHURST, Ill. - The No. 11 Elmhurst University men's basketball team fell to Carthage 85-89 Saturday evening inside R.A. Faganel Hall.

Despite a pair of 20+ point performances from John Ittounas (game-high 24 points) and Ocean Johnson (21 points), the Bluejays (5-2, 0-2 CCIW) were unable to hold off a late Firebird surge as Carthage regained the lead with 1:30 left in the game to pull away and steal the road CCIW contest.

Carthage (5-1, 1-0 CCIW) knocked down 13 treys in the game, including four from AJ Johnson (18 points on 6-for-8 from the field, 4-for-6 from three) and Julian Campbell (17 points, four threes), while Fillip Bulatovic led the Firebirds with 19 points to lead Carthage to a victory in their conference opener.

The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth to begin the game, but a 19-6 Bluejay run spanning nearly six minutes opened a 32-19 Elmhurst lead with under eight minutes to go in the first period. Ittounas kept the Bluejays to a steady five-point lead throughout the first half, scoring 16 of his 24 points in the first half. The Firebirds brought the score to within three after a three-pointer from AJ Johnson, but Ittounas ended the half with a three to give the Bluejays a six-point lead heading into the intermission.

The Firebirds continued to pressure the Bluejays in the second half, with Carthage pulling within one with ten minutes to go. The score was knotted at 74 with seven to go, and Elmhurst was able to push the lead to three with two minutes to go. After a pair of Johnson free throws, the Firebirds knocked down two-straight jumpers to take an 83-82 lead. With the Bluejays down three with 30 seconds on the clock, Johnson missed the tying three-pointer but Jonathan Zapinski was able to grab the offensive board to keep Elmhurst alive. A putback attempt missed by Zapinski allowed Carthage to grab the defensive rebound, and a pair of free throws by Colton Sigel sealed the Firebirds' conference victory.

UP NEXT

The Bluejays will hit the road for a pair of games next week, traveling to Kalamazoo College for a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Dec. 7 with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT, and continuing CCIW conference play with a game against the 21st-ranked Thunder of Wheaton College on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7:15 p.m. CT.

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