CHICAGO, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team's slow start derailed the team in the first road game of the new season. Carroll fell to the Illinois Institute of Technology by a score of 55-64.  Ethan Balinao led Carroll with 12 points coming off the bench, while he and Paradisio Dante pulled in seven rebounds each. Balinao and Justin Gruber added three assists each.
 
The Pioneers (1-1, 0-0 CCIW) finished the game on a high note shooting 40% from the floor, but a dismal first half 6-25 (24%) shooting stifled their progress. The Pioneers struggled shooting from behind the arc, making just three of 17 attempts but converted 12 of 16 free throws. The Pio bench combined for 33 points, with Dante and Ryan Mendoza scoring nine and eight points, respectively, to go along with Balinao's 12.
 
Carroll quickly found themselves down 10 points five minutes into the game, but Balinao put the Pios on the board with a knock-down three-pointer. Balinao missed a three-point jump shot, grabbed his own rebound, and scored the bucket with an and-one foul call. He made it an 18-9 game after making the free throw for his sixth point of the game. Tyler Miller (11 PTS, 2-3 3PM, 4 STL) cut the lead to seven with 3:40 remaining in the first half, but the scarlet hawks added more to the board before going into halftime with a 30-22 lead.
 
Josh Hudgens (5 PTS) knocked down two quick baseline jumpers in the second half, but IIT responded each time with baskets of their own. IIT ran the score up to 15 points, the largest lead of the night, with 15:20 left on the clock. Dante and Miller scored back-to-back buckets to bring the lead back down to 10. Balinao had the lead down to just six with 10:36 remaining, but a shooting foul gave the Scarlet Hawks two free throws to move the lead back to eight. Justin Steinike (6 PTS, 4-4 FT) only scored one basket tonight and all of his six points came timely in the second half, but IIT had answers for all Carroll baskets. The Scarlet Hawks finished the game shooting 46.4% from the floor.
 
Carroll heads back to Van Male where they prepare to host the Pioneer Tip-Off Classic Friday and Saturday in Waukesha. Teams in attendance include Aurora, Concordia Wisconsin, and Coe.