Box Score Wheaton 65, Illinois Wesleyan 59 - Box Score, Feb. 13

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 23-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball dropped a home game to the Wheaton Thunder, 65-59, on February 13.

The Titans fell to 18-5 overall and 9-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Thunder improved to 16-7 and 8-4 in the league and swept the Titans at home and on the road.

Off the bench, junior Duncan Lawson led the Titans with 13 while sophomore John Koschnitzky added 11 and junior Doug Sexauer got 10 points.
Lawson also led the Titans with nine rebounds as IWU outrebounded the Thunder, 34-33.

The Thunder led 20-19 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half before going on a 10-4 run to close out the half and led 30-23 at intermission.

Illinois Wesleyan responded in the second half, taking a 34-33 lead with 12:00 left to play following an 11-3 stretch. A 3-pointer by Ben Panner gave Wheaton a 36-34 lead with 11:15 remaining in the game and Wheaton went ahead to forge a 54-46 lead with 3:25 to play in the game.

IWU battled back, scoring seven of the next eight points, to narrow the margin to 55-53 but Wheaton's Jake Carwell banked in a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 58-53. Wheaton went seven-for-10 at the free throw line in the final 1:30 of the game.

Ben Panner was the Thunder's offensive leader with 21 points and Tim McCrary had 18 points and tied Lawson for game honors with nine boards while also making four steals and three assists. Wheaton only managed to shoot 36 percent (19 for 53) from the field while the Titans connected at a 41 percent clip (21 of 51).

IWU travels to Rock Island, Ill., to meet the Augustana Vikings (15-8, 8-4 CCIW) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Augustana has won four of five games since losing at Illinois Wesleyan, 71-64, on Jan. 27.