Box Score U. of Chicago 83, Illinois Wesleyan 78 - Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 2-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team lost its first game of the year, falling 83-78 to the hot-shooting Chicago Maroons at the Shirk Center on Saturday, Dec. 4.

IWU falls to 6-1 while Chicago won for the second time in seven outings.

The Maroons led by as many as 19 points in the first half, holding a 30-11 lead with 7:00 to play before the Titans chipped away at the lead and got within nine at intermission, 41-32. Junior Dan Schouten scored 11 points including eight in the first half to keep IWU close.

IWU clawed all the way back in the second half to take a 57-56 lead with 9:56 to play on a Schouten 3-pointer and the lead changed hands 10 times with two ties in the final period. The game was tied for the final time at 70-70 with 3:52 to play before the Maroons outscored IWU 13-8 the rest of the way.

Senior Sean Johnson had 16 points to lead Illinois Wesleyan and senior Doug Sexauer had 12 points and a team-high five rebounds. Duncan Lawson and Ryan Connolly came off the bench to score 10 points each as IWU's bench outscored Chicago's, 33-19.

The Maroons, who shot .566 (30 of 53) from the field for the game and .577 (15 of 26) in the first half, were led by the 28 point outburst from Matt Johnson while Matt MacKenzie scored 14 and Tom Williams had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Chicago held a 31-27 edge in rebounds and the Maroons committed 15 turnovers to 10 for the Titans.

IWU was 27 of 57 (.474) from the field, made five of 20 3-point efforts (.250) and hit on 19 of 26 free throws (.731).

The Titans play next at home against MacMurray at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday, Dec. 11.