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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Junior
Michael Mayberger made his first three free throws of his college career with seven seconds left to give Illinois Wesleyan a 52-51 season-opening win over Coe at the IWU Tip-Off Tournament in the Shirk Center on Friday (Nov. 17).
Trailing 51-49, Mayberger, who scored two points last season on one field goal, was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer and knocked down three tosses to stake IWU to its first lead since a 36-35 advantage with 10:11 to play in the game.
Junior
Andrew Ziemnik was the lone Titan to score in double figures with 15 points with senior
Kevin Reed adding nine and junior
Eric Dortch adding eight.
The Titans were outrebounded 39-38 and were led by seven from junior
Victor Davis and six from Dortch and Mayberger.
The Kohawks, also playing their season-opener, had three players in double figures with David Mataloni leading the way with 13. Seth Light had 12 points and snagged a game-hgh 15 rebounds and Andrew Wirth scored 11.
Both teams struggled from long-range with IWU making 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) and Coe connecting on 2 of 14 (14.3 percent). The Titans shot 37 percent from the field (20 of 54) and also suffered through a 9 for 17 night at the free throw line (52.9 percent). The Kohawks shot 37.5 from the field (21 of 56) and made 7 of 13 free throws.
The Titans' bench outscored the Bluejays' bench by a 13-8 margin and IWU got 15 points off turnovers xompared to 6 for Coe.
The Titans face Loras at 4 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 18). Prior to that game there will be an unveiling of the 2012 NCAA Division III semifinal banner at the Shirk Center along with an honor for former assistant coach David Steinbrueck.
In the tournament's first game, Loras came from behind to defeat Millikin 78-76 in a game that had 12 lead changes and eight ties. Nathaniel Smith had 18 and Connor Mooney scored 17 in the win for the Duhawks while TJ Griffin paced the Big Blue with 15. Millikin, 1-24 last season, started five freshmen in the game.