The Blugold men had their season come to an end as they lost 74-67 to the University of Chicago in the NCAA Div. III regional second round contest Saturday.

The Maroons from Chicago, the No. 1 nationally ranked team in this week’s Div. III D3Hoops.com poll, captured their victory over the Blugolds to improve their season record to 23-3. The Blugolds finished their season at 19-10.

“We gave them a run for their money,” coach Terry Gibbons said. “There’s no shame in losing to the number one team in the nation. We fought and we never quit. This team is a group of overachievers.”

This victory was the Maroon’s 47th win in their last 48 games played on their home court. They advance to next weekend’s four-team sectional tournament.

The Blugolds two leading scorers, senior Sherm Carstensen and sophomore Jason Larson, sat out much of the game due to foul trouble, which hurt the Blugolds down the stretch.

Carstensen played only 21 minutes before fouling out with three minutes, 23 seconds to go in regulation. Larson was limited to 28 minutes on the floor. Sophomore center Andy Witte was also a victim of foul trouble, making his exit with 1:34 left in the game.

Larson led the Blugolds on nine of 17 shooting to finish with 22 points. Carstensen went four of six to add 15 points. Witte knocked down four of his eight attempts from the field to chip in 11 points.

At 6-feet, 7-inches, sophomore Derek Reich proved why he is a two-time University Athletic Association player of the year, leading the Maroons with game highs of 32 points and 11 rebounds. Reich converted on 16-18 attempts from the charity stripe.

“(Reich) is an All-American type player,” senior Todd Marks said. “He got a lot of second-chance points, which really hurt us.”

As a team, Chicago made 27 of 31 from the free-throw line compared to 16 of 18 for Eau Claire.

The Blugolds led at intermission, 27-24, but Tyler Smithson of the Maroons nailed three three-pointers early in the second half to put the Maroons into the lead for good. Smithson’s final three-pointer put Chicago ahead, 42-35, with 13:09 remaining. The Maroons extended their lead to 11, 46-35, with 11:24 remaining. The ‘Golds fought back to reduce the lead to one point, 50-49, with 5:38 left. Jon Poyer hit the third of his three-pointers to start a six-point run, pushing the Maroons’ lead to seven at 56-49 with 4:18 left. The Blugolds couldn’t get closer than within five after that, with the Maroons going to the free-throw line 17 times in the final 2:20.

Eau Claire was victorious Thursday night in Chicago as they beat Benedictine University (Ill.) 66-55 to advance to the second-round regionals of the NCAA Div. III tournament.

Despite the ‘Golds turning the ball over 10 times and shooting just 38 percent in the first half on Thursday, they pulled together a strong second half to remain alive in postseason play.

Benedictine led at halftime, 27-24, but Eau Claire regained the lead for good in the second half due in part to the solid performance of Larson.

Larson led all scorers to finish with his career-high as a Blugold with 29 points. Larson went 10-15 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line with 1:07 remaining in