Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team never led in the game and once trailed by as many as 27 points in an 80-61 loss at Ripon (Wis.) on Saturday (Nov. 26). The loss is the first of the year for IWU after four straight wins.

Ripon, who improved to 3-0, led by a 14-8 score with 12:07 left in the first half before going on a 17-5 tear to stake out a 31-13 lead and the Redhawks held a 38-26 edge at intermission.

Baskets by junior Kevin Reed and senior John Koschnitzky after the break got the Titans within eight at 38-30 but that was as close as Wesleyan would come the rest of the way, eventually falling behind by a massive 78-51 deficit with 4:58 to play.

Reed was the only Titan to score in double digits with 11 points while Koschnitzky, senior Jordan Zimmer and freshman David Molinari each added eight.

Ripon's Aris Wurtz scored a career-high 39 points, which is tied for the ninth-most in a single game at Ripon and moved him into seventh place on the school's career scoring list with 1,356 points. Against the Titans, Wurtz shot 11-for-18 from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, while making all 15 of his free throw attempts.

Illinois Wesleyan was outrebounded 39-25 as Reed and sophomore Andrew Ziemnik each had five boards. Josh Fabian came off Ripon's bench to grab a game-high nine rebounds in addition to 18 points, both career highs.

Illinois Wesleyan made 21 of 48 from the field (.438) and connected on just five of 18 3-point free tries (.278) while struggling at the free throw line, making just 14 of 25 (.560).

The Redhawks shot .436 (24 of 55) from the field and made six of 17 (.353) from beyond the 3-point arc. Ripon made a solid 26 of 28 free throws (.929).

Each team was guilty of 16 turnovers.

The Titans will play at Wisconsin-Whitewater at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 30) before returning to meet Webster next Saturday night at 7.