Wheaton, Ill. - A late three-pointer brought an end to an entertaining CCIW contest on Wednesday night at King Arena. Jaylen Beasley connected on a deep three with just 1.5 seconds remaining, breaking the fifth tie of the game and giving the Illinois Wesleyan Titans a hard-fought 82-79 road victory over the Thunder. Both teams are now 1-1 in conference play, with the Titans improving to 6-1 overall and Wheaton falling to 5-2. Wheaton will be off until December 16, when the Thunder host Alma College for a 7 pm tip.
A lopsided rebounding battle proved costly for the Thunder as they were outrebounded 50-32 including a 19-8 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton shots 42.9% (27-63) from the field despite a 34.4% (11-32) clip from the three-point line. Wheaton made 14-of-19 free throw attempts to shot 73.7%. The Titans posted a similar line of 42.6% (29-68) from the field and 34.6% (9-26) from beyond the arc, but managed just 68.2% (15-22) from the charity stripe.
Illinois Wesleyan overcame an early 8-3 deficit and pushed its lead out to 10 points with 4:22 left in the first half. Consecutive three-pointers by
Jay Spencer kept reeled the Titans back in before they posted a 39-34 halftime lead. The Titans pushed the lead to a game-high 11 points early in the second half before
Aston Francis converted a three-point play in transition and hit a three-pointer to cut the lead back to five. Four straight points by the Titans made it 56-47 with 13:49 to play but again Wheaton had the answer from deep. Francis hit a pair of threes to start a 10-point individual run.
The intensity hit its tipping point with 12:10 to play when a skirmish at half-court led to two Titan technical fouls. Francis hit all four free throws and
Kobe Eichelberger tipped in a missed shot on the ensuing possession to give Wheaton a 59-58 lead. The Titans punched back with a 9-2 run to retake a 67-61 lead with 8:38 to play. Samuelson then answered with a three and Francis followed with another to tie the game at 67-67 with 7:53 to play.
A lay-up by Samuelson and two free throws by
Luke Peters gave Wheaton a two-score lead at 73-69 with 4:19 left but two free throws and a Brady Rose three-pointer put the Titans on top again. Samuelson answered on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer from the corner only to have Jaylen Beasley connect on the other end, putting the Titans ahead 77-76 with 1:28 left. The two teams traded free throws, with Francis connected on two of three to tie the game at 79 with 37 seconds left.
Wheaton got the initial stop, forcing a missed three-pointer but the Titans hunted down the rebound and following a timeout, Beasley hit the game-winner with 1.5 seconds to play.
Aston Francis led all scorers with 30 points, tallying his third consecutive 30-point game.
Ricky Samuelson scored 17 points and
Jay Spencer finished with 12 points to go with six blocks. Brady Rose led the Titans with 26 points and was joined in double-figures by Beasley with 13 and Alex O'Neill with 11 points.
