WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University Pioneers opened their 2021 season with a tough loss to the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan by a score of 74-59. Freshmen Justin Steinike led the Pioneer offense with 16 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor. Sophomore Carter Sturgeon provided a team-high four rebounds off the bench to go along with 13 points.
 
The Pioneers with their young offense shot 38.5% from the field, including 43.5% in the second half. The Titans, who shot over 50% for the game, struggled to maintain possessions and gave up 20 turnovers, to which the Pios capitalized for 13 points. Carroll showed growth in a deep bench, outscoring IWU 26-17 in that category. The talent in the paint for the Titans was too much for the Pios to handle, with 42 total points scored against them.
 
For the first five minutes of the contest, the Pios matched the Titans at six a piece. A 10-2 run by the Titans quickly widened the gap, but good plays by Steinike and a couple of threes from senior Tarren Hall (13 pts, 3-7 3PM) brought the game back to a tie at 18 all. A larger IWU run brought their lead to 7 heading into halftime.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers for the Titans extended their lead to as high as 15 points early, but Strugeon answered with three-straight of his own from behind the arc. Freshman Ryan Mendoza (11 pts, 4-6 FTM) joined in on the three-ball fest with one from the corner with less than 10 remaining. Down by 18, Steinike managed to create havoc with one of his five steals in the contest, leading to an easy layup to bring the lead to 12 with five minutes remaining, forcing Ron Rose to call a time out. The Pios struggled to gain anymore traction and fell in the final minutes.
 
Both teams will see each other soon, with the Pioneers traveling to Bloomington, Ill. on Monday, Jan. 25^th for a 5:30 PM Tip-off at the Shirk Center. Hall played in 24 minutes of that contest, grabbing three rebounds with two points.  
 
Stay up to date on Pioneers' men's basketball this season by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics).