Carthage maintains narrow lead as CCIW men’s basketball race intensifies
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s basketball season continued to provide significant moments as teams competed for position in the standings. Wheaton’s Soren Richardson made a notable impact, earning his second Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week honor. Richardson secured a 72-71 victory over North Central with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, marking Wheaton’s first such win since February 2020. He followed this performance with a season-high 33 points against Millikin, making six three-pointers and helping Wheaton improve to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The Thunder currently lead the conference in scoring at 21.9 points per game.
Illinois Wesleyan advanced to No. 15 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 rankings and extended its winning streak to six games after defeating North Park 79-59. Junior Mason Funk contributed a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Nathan Boldt set an individual modern-era program record with five blocks against Augustana earlier in the week. Sophomore Noah Cleveland ranks third nationally with ten double-doubles and leads the CCIW in rebounding and blocked shots.
Carthage maintained its lead atop the standings at 5-1 by extending its winning streak to seven games after defeating North Park. Junior Riley Brooks scored a career-high 30 points, and senior AJ Johnson added 22 points without missing a free throw. Carthage leads the league in scoring margin and ranks highly nationally for assist-to-turnover ratio while limiting opponents’ three-point shooting.
Carroll found late momentum during the week, securing a narrow win over Millikin with Michael McNabb's buzzer-beater putback basket before defeating Elmhurst decisively on Wednesday. Carroll is now even at 3-3 in conference play.
North Central saw close contests throughout the week, highlighted by freshman James Bullock Jr.’s record-tying six blocked shots against Wheaton and his first career double-double against Augustana. Freshman Seth Cheney also achieved a personal best with 23 points.
Augustana recorded an efficient offensive outing by beating North Central while shooting nearly 58 percent from the field, led by Cam Atkinson’s 24 points and Eli Aldana’s strong three-point shooting off the bench.
Elmhurst started its week with a win over Augustana, fueled by freshman Luke Smith’s career-high scoring effort and Dominic Trelenberg's third double-double of the season.
As January continues, Carthage holds a one-game advantage at the top of the standings, followed closely by Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton. North Park, Augustana, and Carroll are tied in conference records as teams prepare for another weekend of competition featuring key matchups between top-ranked programs.