Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. -  Seniors Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) and Brandon Motzel (Carmel HS, Buffalo Grove, Ill.) carried the load Saturday night as Augustana defeated Carthage 71-63 at Tarble Arena. Ryan scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, while Motzel contributed a career-high 17 points and nine boards. Coach Grey Giovanine's third-ranked Vikings improve to 15-1 overall and 4-1 in the CCIW, while the host Red Men dropped to 7-9 on the season and 1-4 in the league.
 
Ryan got his team going early. His conventional three-point play just over a minute in gave Augustana the lead for good at 5-2. He hit his first six shots from the field and scored 13 points in the first 12:20 of the game. The Vikings extended their lead to 10 points on five occasions in the first half, but never more. 
 
The margin was 32-23 after a Motzel bucket with 5:43 left in the half, but Carthage went on an 8-1 run over the next four-plus minutes. The Red Men got three-pointers from Myles Olsen and Sean Valentine in the spree and Valentine's layup at the 1:28 mark drew his team to within 33-31. Augustana scored the final seven points of the half though, getting a three-pointer from Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Ill.) and two free throws each by Motzel and Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) after a Carthage personal foul followed by a technical.
 
In the second half, the Vikings extended the lead to 60-45—the largest of the night—on a Motzel hoop with 8:29 to play. The Red Men refused to go away, however, eventually getting consecutive threes from Olsen to cut the deficit to 65-59 with 48 seconds left. Senior Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.), Hill and Ryan each converted a pair of free throws in the final 39 seconds to keep Carthage at bay.
 
Ryan converted 10 of 17 shots from the floor and Motzel seven of nine, while the rest of the Vikings combined to hit just eight of 33 field goal attempts, including three of 16 (.188) from beyond the arc. For the game, Augustana was 25 of 59 (.424) from the field and 18 of 25 (.720) from the foul line. Pils and Hill added 10 points each to the Viking attack. Augustana won the battle of the boards 38-36 and committed just six turnovers.
 
Olsen hit four of six threes and led the Red Men with 18 points. He was the only player in double figures for Carthage, which shot .411 (23 of 56) from the floor, .375 (nine of 24) from three-point range and .727 (eight of 11) from the free throw line. Brad Kruse grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Next up for Giovanine's squad is a key road date at Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday, January 20. The Titans (9-7, 3-2) are currently a game back of the Vikings in the CCIW standings. Tipoff at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.