Box Score Illinois Wesleyan 78, Aurora 76 - Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A basket by senior Doug Sexauer after a pass from senior Sean Johnson with 5.8 seconds left proved to be the winning margin as Illinois Wesleyan defeated Aurora, 78-76, in the first round of the IWU Tip-Off Tournament on Friday, Nov. 19.

The 2-0 Titans face Ripon at 7 p.m. Saturday in the title game. Ripon was an 85-75 winner over Buena Vista in the first game of the tournament (box score).

The Titans got off to a slow start and trailed 14-2 with 14:43 to play in the first half. The Spartans' largest lead came with 3:17 to go before halftime when they extended to a 38-23 advantage.

IWU outscored Aurora, 25-10 to tie the game at 48-48 with 13:16 to play in the game and the lead teetered back and forth until Sexauer tied the game at 76-76 with 1:29 to play.

Sexauer had 18 points and 11 rebounds to pace IWU while Johnson had 14 points and eight boards and junior Ryan Connolly scored 11 points off the bench and snared five boards. Junior Dan Schouten also had eight rebounds as the Titans held a 48-41 rebound edge.

Aurora's Ryan Crow had a game-high 24 points and Skyler Ormsbee scored 16 points and collected 14 rebounds. The Spartans shot 48.5 percent for the game from the field while the Titans shot 38.6 percent (27 of 70) and made only 4 of 18 3-point tries (22.2 percent).
The Spartans made six of their seven free throw attempts while the Titans were at the line 29 times and made 20 (.690).

The Spartans (0-1) will meet Buena Vista (0-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday.