Carthage College men's basketball season came to a sudden and abrupt end Saturday night in 76-53 loss to Elmhurst in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game at

Elmhurst, Ill.

Carthage closed out its regular season in fifth place in the CCIW, which begins its four-team postseason tournament Friday at Wheaton, Ill.

The Red Men (15-10, 7-7 CCIW) led the No. 21 ranked Bluejays for much of the first half but couldn't sustain their lead.

Carthage led by as many as eight points and didn't trail until Elmhurst took a 27-24 lead with 5:15 remaining the first half. The Bluejays led 35-32 at halftime and opened the second half with an 8-0 run to pull away.

Elmhurst shot 55 percent (30-for-55) from the floor and held Carthage to just 35 percent

(17-for-48).

Ryan Burks led the Bluejays with 20 points and five rebounds, while Brent Ruch had 13 points and eight rebounds. Steve Djurickovic led the Red Men with 15 points and seven assists. Max Cary had 11 points and Sean Fendley added 10 points.

Women

WHEATON 69, CARTHAGE 63 (OT): Katie Jarger scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half at the Tarble Arena in Kenosha, but it wasn't enough for the Lady Reds in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin loss to Wheaton, which clinched the second seed in the CCIW tournament.

Carthage scored the first basket in overtime but was outscored 10-2 the rest of the way. Wheaton's Laura Karsten, who finished with 15 points, made a 3 to break a 61-61 tie and added two foul shots in the final

second.

The Lady Reds closed the first half with a 7-2 run and led 29-22 early in the second half before Wheaton (15-9, 10-3 CCIW) battled back. The game was tied 11 times in the second half before Karsten's layup with 1:12 remaining tied the game 59-59.

Carthage held Wheaton to 35 percent shooting from the floor and outrebounded the Thunder 47-33 but committed 27 turnovers.

Lisa Gartelos had 14 points and seven rebounds for

Carthage.

Kathleen Fidelia led Wheaton with 19 points and Jamie Jones added 15.

Carthage (16-8, 8-5 CCIW) needs a win over Augustana

(3-20, 1-11 CCIW) in its regular-season finale Tuesday to earn the third seed. The Lady Reds would face No. 2 seed Wheaton 6 p.m. Friday at Illinois Wesleyan University. Conference-champion and top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan will play the No. 4 seed in the other semifinal at 8 p.m.