Bloomington, Ill. – The host Titans of Illinois Wesleyan (7-6, 1-1 CCIW) topped the Wheaton Thunder (4-9, 0-2 CCIW) men's basketball team 82-66 on Wednesday in a CCIW matchup. Wheaton will return home on Saturday for its first contest in King Arena since December 12 when North Central visits the Thunder for a conference matchup.
Thunder senior
Michael Berg scored the first basket of the game in the first 30 seconds of the matchup tonight. The Titans scored the next five points and never relinquished the lead in the matchup. The Titans owned a 17-6 lead with 14:00 remaining in the first half when the Thunder responded with an 11-2 scoring surge to cut the hosts lead to 19-17 with 11:10 left in the opening half. The Titans maintained their lead for the rest of the first half as the hosts led 39-33 at the halftime intermission.
Illinois Wesleyan scored the first six points of the second half to extend the Titans' lead to 45-33 with 19:00 left in the game. The hosts continued to maintain their double-digit lead for much of the second half in earning the 82-66 victory.
Berg led the Thunder with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Tonight's effort was his fifth "double-double" of the season in tallying double digits in both points and rebounds; and the 13
th "double-double" of his Thunder career.
Sophomore
Murad Dillard (PICTURED LEFT) tallied 13 points for the Thunder. Freshman
Trae Masten scored eight points with four rebounds. Sophomore
Ricky Samuelson scored six points for the guests.
Andy Stempel led Illinois Wesleyan with 24 points and four assists. Bryce Dolan contributed 18 points and six assists for the hosts. Ryan Coyle registered 13 points with 10 rebounds.
Wheaton posted a 38.3% (23-of-60) field goal percentage, including 42.9% (6-of-14) from three-point range. The Titans shot 51.7% (31-for-60) from the floor, including a 52.2% (12-for-23) effort behind the three-point arc. The Thunder tallied 77.8% (14-of-18) at the free throw line and Illinois Wesleyan shot 66.7 at the charity stripe. The Titans held a 42-32 edge in rebounding with an 11-10 advantage for the hosts on the offensive glass.
