GAME STATS Bloomington, Ill. – Fourth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan defeated #21-Wheaton College 78-71 on Saturday night in a key CCIW men's basketball matchup at the Titans' Shirk Center. Illinois Wesleyan is now 14-2 overall and 4-1 in CCIW play, while Wheaton falls to 10-6 overall with a 3-2 record in conference play. The Thunder hosts North Park on Wednesday night at 7 PM.
Illinois Wesleyan took an early 13-12 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half when the Thunder responded with 11 unanswered points to give Wheaton a 23-13 advantage with 10:20 left before halftime
Brayden Teuscher (PICTURED LEFT) and
Caleb DeMoss each scored four points in the Thunder scoring surge and
Michael Berg added a three-pointer. Illinois Wesleyan responded with a 15-3 scoring run to give the hosts a 28-26 lead with 5:20 remaining in the first half. The final five minutes of the first half were tightly contested, as the Titans held a 39-38 lead at halftime.
Wheaton tallied the first three baskets of the second half as Teuscher made a field goal and
Nate Haynes (PICTURED RIGHT) added two more to give the guests a 44-39 lead with 18 minutes left in the second half. Wheaton continued to maintain a lead until Illinois Wesleyan's Michael Mayberger registered a conventional three-point play with 11:40 remaining in regulation to give the Titans a 52-51 lead. Following Mayberger's three points Illinois Wesleyan remained in the lead for the rest of the game. From that point the hosts increased their lead to 58-51 with 9:37 left in regulation.
The Titans continued to lead, holding a 67-61 advantage with 5:50 remaining in regulation when Wheaton responded with five of the game's next six points. The Thunder surge allowed the guests to trim IWU's lead to 68-66 with 2:35 remaining in regulation. The Titans led 73-68 with 36-seconds left when Thunder senior
Tyler Peters made a basket to trim the IWU lead to 73-70. Titan Dylan Overstreet made one of two free throw attempts on the next IWU possession and Peters did the same on Wheaton's next possession as the hosts led 74-71 with 24-seconds left in the game. Wheaton sophomore
Luis Miller stole the Titans' in-bounds pass on the next possession; however Wheaton was unable to convert the opportunity into a basket. The Titans shot 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the final 14-seconds of the game to secure the 78-71 victory.
Peters scored a game-high 18 points, with three assists and four rebounds. Teuscher tallied 12 points for the guests.
Peter Smith and
Nate Haynes each scored 10 points for Wheaton. Haynes collected a team-high nine rebounds and also blocked three shots.
Caleb DeMoss (PICTURED LEFT) scored seven points, with six assists and two steals.
Michael Berg tallied six points, with two blocked shots.
Wheaton shot 42.6% (26-61) from the field tonight, with 28% (7-25) from three-point range and 63.2% (12-19) at the free throw line. The Titans posted a 42.1% (24-57) field goal percentage, with 38.1% (24-57) behind the three-point arc and 73.3% (22-30) at the charity stripe. Illinois Wesleyan out-rebounded the Thunder 39-35 with each team collecting 10 offensive rebounds.
Jordan Nelson scored a team-high 16 points off the Titans' bench to lead the hosts. Nelson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the game, including 3-of-3 behind the three-point arc. Victor Davis scored 15 points, with nine rebounds for IWU. Overstreet and Mayberger each scored nine points for the hosts.
