Box Score Illinois Wesleyan 75, Washington U. 70 - Box Score, March 6

NCAA Division III Men's Interactive Bracket

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team pulled off a stunning 75-70 upset of No. 1 ranked Washington U. in St. Louis on Saturday, March 6, to advance to the final 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since 2006.

The win sets up a fourth game of the year against College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Carthage in the sectional semifinals on Friday, March 12. IWU is 1-2 against the Red Men this season with a win in Bloomington and two losses in Kenosha, Wis.
The sectional will be at a site to be announced on Sunday.
Carthage (24-5) was a 76-58 home court winner over Anderson (Ind.) on March 6 as Steve Djurickovic scored 30 points and handed out 10 assists. The other two teams in the sectional field are Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Texas-Dallas.
The Pointers (25-4) beat St. Norbert, 63-48, and Texas-Dallas (24-5) squeaked past CCIW member Wheaton, 63-62.

The second round win continued IWU's postseason dominance over Washington U. as the Titans now hold a 4-0 advantage in NCAA Division III tourney games. The loss also ended the Bears' 14-game NCAA tournament winning streak dating back to 2008.

There were four ties in the first half, but Illinois Wesleyan never allowed the Bears to lead. With the score tied at 10-10, junior Sean Johnson ignited a 7-0 run with a long two and 3-pointer as IWU took a 17-10 lead. Illinois Wesleyan connected on seven of its first 12 from the field, and shot 52 percent (13-25) in the first half.
Illinois Wesleyan got the lead up to eight (27-19) with 6:20 remaining on a lay-up by Doug Sexauer, but the Bears closed the gap to 27-23.
The Titans built the lead back to eight (34-26) but the Bears ended the half on a 5-0 run to make the halftime score 34-31.
A 5-0 lead to start the second half gave Washington U. its first and only lead of the game at 36-34. The Titans took its largest lead of the game at 48-39 with 14:18 to play after Sean Dwyer found Jordan Zimmer open for a lay-up.
Washington U. would not go away, cutting the lead to 61-57 and got within one at 68-67 with less than two minutes to play. With the Titans leading by three with 15 seconds left, Zimmer missed the second of a two-shot foul, but Sexauer was there for the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws to secure the victory.

Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while Zimmer (17 points) and Sexauer (16 points, nine rebounds) also scored in double figures. The Titans shot 50.9 percent (27-53) from the field, and committed just 12 turnovers.

The Bears, who have been to the final four three times in the last four years and won the national NCAA title in 2008 and 2009, saw their season end with a 24-3 record. Aaron Thompson led the Bears with 20 points Spencer Gay added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Sean Wallis was limited to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting, but had a game-high 11 assists.