Box Score Illinois Wesleyan 68, Wheaton 59 - Box Score, Feb. 26

KENOSHA, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team advanced to the final game of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament with a 68-59 win over Wheaton on Feb. 26.

The Titans will meet the host school, Carthage, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Red Men came from behind to defeat Augustana, 55-52, in the second semifinal game.

The Titans improved to 20-6 with the victory and got 15 points from sophomore John Koschnitzky and junior Doug Sexauer added 15 points and five rebounds. Junior Sean Johnson contributed 12 points.

IWU trailed by eight at 47-39 with 11:05 to play in the game before putting the defensive clamps on the Thunder, going on a 12-0 run over the next nearly three minutes to pull ahead 49-47 with 8:20 left after the second of two 3-pointers during the run by Jordan Zimmer.

The game was tied at 57-57 with 3:39 to play before IWU scored 11 of the game's final 13 points with six coming from junior Travis Rosenkranz at the free throw line.

The Titans shot 54 percent from the field (22 of 41) and connected on 18 of 23 free throw tries (78 percent). Wheaton shot 44 percent (23 of 52) and committed 15 turnovers to 12 for IWU. The Titans outrebounded the Thunder, 26-24, and Rosenkranz and Sexauer each collected five boards.

The NCAA Division III tournament's automatic bid from the CCIW goes to the winning team of the Carthage/IWU game. Illinois Wesleyan leads Carthage in the overall series, 84-23, and the 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.