The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team looks to improve its chances to enter the NCAA Division III tournament picture this weekend at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament in Kenosha, Wis. Read more...

The No. 3-seed Titans, who are 19-6 overall and finished 10-4 in league play, play No. 2-seed Wheaton (18-7, 10-4 CCIW) in the first semifinal game at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26 on the campus of Carthage College. The host school and top seed (20-5, 12-2) plays Augustana (16-9, 9-5 CCIW) in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal game. The championship game is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 with the winner earning the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship. Go here for Carthage's CCIW tourney web page and go here for the official conference tourney web site.


Head coach Ron Rose, whose four-year record is 59-43, takes the No. 29-ranked Titans into their third CCIW tournament appearance. IWU lost in the tournament championship game in both 2006 and 2008.
Junior Doug Sexauer was a unanimous all-CCIW selection as he led the conference with a .667 field goal percentage (100 of 150) and was sixth in scoring against CCIW foes at 16.1 points per game.
Junior guards Sean Johnson and Travis Rosenkranz were chosen to the second and third team of the all-conference squads. Johnson was eighth in both scoring (15.5) and free throw percentage (.810, 51 of 63). He was second in the CCIW with 2.0 3-pointers per game and tied for sixth with 2.93 assists per game in league contests.
Rosenkranz led the league with a 3.42 assist to turnover ratio and finished third in the league with 4.64 assists per game. He was seventh in the CCIW with a free throw percentage of .811 (30 of 37).
As a team in conference games only, Illinois Wesleyan tied with Carthage in scoring offense (72.6) and led the CCIW in assists (15.07 per game). The Titans ranked sixth in defense (69.8) and fourth in scoring margin (+2.9 points per game).

Wheaton, tied with IWU at No. 29 in the D3hoops.com rankings, is making its fourth straight CCIW tournament appearance and won last year's tournament (67-63 vs. Elmhurst).
Sophomore forward Tim McCrary is third in the CCIW in scoring (18.9 points per game), first in rebounding (9.0 per game), second in assists (4.72 per game) and eighth in field goal percentage (.541). Senior guard Ben Panner is fourth in scoring (17.2 points per game).

Carthage is No. 16 in the Feb. 23 D3hoops.com poll and No. 2 in the Feb. 17 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional poll. The Red Men are making their first appearance in the CCIW postseason tournament, which was started in 2006.
The father and son Djurickovics (Bosko and Steve) were chosen as the coach and player of the year in the CCIW. Steve led the league in scoring (24.3) and assists (7.36), was second to Rosenkranz in assist/turnover ratio (2.94), third in free throw accuracy (.857, 96 of 112), fifth in 3-point percentage (.440) and sixth in field goal percentage (.544).

Augustana has played in all four previous conference tournaments and won the tournament in 2007 and 2008. Junior forward Kyle Nelson is tied for ninth in CCIW scoring (14.9 points per game), and is second in both rebounding (7.7 per game) and field goal percentage (.612). Senior guard Matt Pelton is 15th in scoring (11.9 points per game), and sophomore forward Chris Anderson is second in 3-point field goal percentage (.441).

The series records:
• Illinois Wesleyan leads Wheaton, 69-40 – Wheaton won 66-65 on Jan. 20 in Wheaton and 65-59 on Feb. 13 in Bloomington
• Illinois Wesleyan leads Augustana, 86-60 – The Titans won both games, taking a 71-64 decision at home on Jan. 27 and winning in Rock Island 62-59 on Feb. 17
• Illinois Wesleyan leads Carthage, 84-23 – The two teams split this year with each winning on their home court. IWU got Carthage, 79-69 on Jan. 9 and the Red Men beat the Titans, 80-55 on Jan. 30.


2009 (at Wheaton)
Semifinals
Wheaton 77, North Central 66
Elmhurst 59, Augustana 53
Championship
Wheaton 67, Elmhurst 63

2008 (at Augustana)
Semifinals
Illinois Wesleyan 81, Wheaton 78
Augustana 69, Elmhurst 68 (OT)
Championship
Augustana 71, Illinois Wesleyan 60

2007 (at Augustana)
Semifinals
Elmhurst 85, Wheaton 82
Augustana 74, North Central 67
Championship 
Augustana 78, Elmhurst 70

2006 (at Augustana)
Semifinals
North Central 67, Elmhurst 57
Illinois Wesleyan 81, Augustana 67
Championship
North Central 51, Illinois Wesleyan 49