Wheaton, Ill. – The No. 3 ranked Wheaton men's basketball team (12-1) hosted No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan (8-1) on Friday night in the CCIW Tournament Final. The Titans used a strong defense and solid play in the second half to defeat the Thunder 71-58.

Tonight marked Wheaton's first appearance in the CCIW Tournament Final since 2014 and the fourth time the program has made the tournament final. The 12-1 record for Wheaton gives the Thunder a 92.3% winning percentage, the highest winning percentage since Wheaton's 1995-96 team won 92.6% of its games with a 25-2 overall record.

Cade Alioth led Wheaton with 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. The Thunder forward grabbed 14 rebounds to tally his eighth "double-double" of the season. Nyameye Adom (PICTURED LEFT) scored 15 points with five assists and four rebounds. Tyson Cruickshank tallied 11 points with a pair of assists for the hosts. Senior Gavin Hawkins added seven points with three rebounds in his final game for the Thunder.

Wheaton shot 34.6% (18-of-52) from the field tonight, including 27.6% (8-of-29) behind the three-point arc. The Titans posted a 49.1% (28-of-57) field goal percentage, including 27.3% from three-point range. The Thunder had a 60.9% (14-of-23) effort at the free throw line and Illinois Wesleyan shot 66.7% (12-of-18) at the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 36-35 edge in rebounding, including an 8-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Illinois Wesleyan 44-18 scoring advantage in the paint tonight was a key edge for the guests in the contest.

The Titans jumped out to an early 15-4 lead in the opening 4:30 of the game. The Thunder responded with 11 unanswered points to tie the game at 15-15 with 12:25 left in the first half. Three-pointers by Luke Anthony, Hawkins (PICTURED RIGHT) and Cruickshank highlighted the Thunder run. The remained of the first half was tightly contested with neither team leading by more than four points. An IWU basket in the final seconds before halftime gave the Titans a 28-27 lead at the intermission. Alioth led Wheaton in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds.

The majority of the second half was a close contest. Illinois Wesleyan led 57-54 with 3:50 left in the game when the guests tallied a field goal that sparked a 14-4 run for the Titans to close out the half as IWU emerged with the 71-58 victory. Adom scored nine second-half points for the hosts, with Alioth and Cruickshank scoring eight points apiece in the final 20 minutes.

Matthew Leritz led the Titans with 17 points and he grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Peter Lambesis tallied 16 points , Cory Noe scored 12 points and Doug Wallen added 11 points for the guests.