Waukesha, Wis. – The Carroll University men's basketball team put up a strong fight against Elmhurst University, but ran out of time in their comeback attempt, falling 72-81. Tarren Hall finished with 22 points on a career-high 10-16 shooting. Justin Steinike led with six rebounds while collecting six points. Carter Sturgeon dished out five assists with seven points off the bench.
 
The Pioneers (2-3, 2-3 CCIW) shot 50% from the floor in the second half and 46.6% overall (27-58) for the game. The men gave themselves a chance hitting 8-12 free throws. Elmhurst led by as much as 23 points towards the end of the first half, but the Pios scored 41 second-half points in retaliation. Despite being out-rebounded, the Pios scored 14 second-chance points compared to the Bluejays' 12. The Pios struggled to stay out of foul trouble towards the end, however, giving Elmhurst double bonus opportunities.
 
Elmhurst opened the contest on an 11-2 run, with the first two Pio points coming at the 16:41 mark from Tyler Miller's jump shot (12 points, 5 fouls). The Pios turned it on with an 11-4 run fueled by points from Sturgeon and Hall, cutting the lead to as low as three points. Elmhurst ran away with things again, working the lead up to as high as 23 points. The men ended the first half on a 9-0 run and went into halftime with momentum down 14 points.
 
The Pios continued from the first half momentum and cut the lead to 10 points off Miller and Hall buckets. Tarren Hall led the way with scoring in the second half, netting his 18^th point with 13:31 remaining in the game. Steinike brought the lead back down to nine points with 9:41 remaining from a three-point basket. Ryan Mendoza (7 pts, 4 ast) knocked down a three, and a Steinike created a fast-break layup off a turnover and came within four points of the lead. Despite the hot Pioneer shooting, Elmhurst had an answer to everything and finished the game with a nine-point lead.
 
The men travel to Kenosha, Wis. on Tuesday night to face off against Carthage. The men will look to even the series, after falling at home the last time against Carthage. Tarren Hall finished with a career-high 27 points in the three-point loss.