Box Score Illinois Wesleyan 86, Central (Iowa) 81 - Box Score

Washington U. Regional Web Site

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team claimed the school's first NCAA Division III win since 2006 with an 86-81 decision over Central (Iowa) in St. Louis.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, the Titans, who improved to 21-7, will take on No. 1-ranked Washington U., who battled throughout their semifinal game and came away with a 79-71 win over Westminster.

Junior Sean Johnson led the Titans with 24 points while junior Doug Sexauer had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore John Koschnitzky had 12 rebounds as the Titans outrebounded the Dutch, 41-38.

Sophomore Jordan Zimmer had 17 points and junior Travis Rosenkranz scored 10 points.

"Central was a very good team, they played very physical basketball," said Illinois Wesleyan head coach Ron Rose. "The tempo was a lot faster than I had estimated. The key (to our win) was taking the lead early and then maintaining the lead in the second half."

The Titans led 45-36 at halftime and by as many as 13 with 13:41 to play in the second half. But the Dutch battled back to close to within two at 83-81 with 19 seconds left. Clutch free throws down the stretch by Koschnitzky and two from Johnson closed out the win.

The Titans shot 41 percent from the field (30 of 73) and connected on 10 of 21 3-point field goal tries (.476) while the Dutch shot 52 percent (31 of 60) and made six of 15 (40 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc.

Central, whose season ends at 23-5, committed 15 turnovers to 11 for IWU. Central had three players in double digits and were led by 25 points from Loren Liming, who totaled 15 in the second half alone. Miguel Ley and Mark Holan rounded out the leading scorers for the Dutch with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Guard Sean Wallis scored a game-high 21 points and dished out 13 assist to lead Washington U. to a 79-71 victory over Westminster.

Wallis was 9-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Aaron Thompson and Dylan Richter each tallied 13 points for the Bears, while Spencer Gay added 10 points and eight rebounds.

“Westminster played great tonight; they came to compete,” said Washington U. head coach Mark Edwards. “This was a great Division III tournament game. No matter if you are at home or on the road, or if people are saying you are expected to win or not, you have to come out and play basketball.”

The Bears shot 60 percent (30-50) from the field in the victory, and hit 8-of-16 from three-point range. Washington U. outrebounded Westminster, 36-20, and had 26 assists in the win.