Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 26-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the second half but fell short in a bid to top North Central, losing 80-73 at the Shirk Center on Tuesday (Feb. 7).

The Titans fell to 7-4 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, three full games behind the Cardinals, who improved to 10-1 with ther seventh straight win. Both teams are now 16-6 overall.

The first four minutes of the game were all Illinois Wesleyan as IWU scored the first 12 points to claim a 12-0 lead with 15:52 left. But the Cardinals battled back to tie the game at 20-20, the first of eight ties. With the score knotted at 32-32, North Central scored the final four points of the first half to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room.

It was North Central exploding early in the second half, building up an 11-point lead at 49-38 with 15:08 remaining. But the stubborn Titans rallied to chip away at the Cardinal lead and tied the issue at 60-60 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Andrew Ziemnik with 7:17 to go.

IWU claimed its first lead since being up 30-29 in the first half when senior Eliud Gonzalez knocked home a 3-pointer to go ahead 63-62 with 6:54 to play in the game.

The score was tied at 66, 67 and 71 before the Cardinals' Aaron Tiknis made a 3-pointer and a layup to keep North Central ahead to stay.

The Titans were 26-of-62 from the field (.419) and made 8-of-22 3-point field goal tries (.364). IWU hit 13-of-20 free throw tries (.650) and held a 35-29 rebound edge in the game while forcing 11 turnovers.

North Central shot .574 from the floor (27 of 47) and had converted 17-of-21 foul shots (.810). The Cardinals made 9 of their 15 3-point field goal tries (.600).

Sophomore Victor Davis paced the Titans with 19 points while senior Jordan Zimmer scored 14 before leaving the game at the midway point of the second half with a neck injury. Gonzalez and senior John Koschnitzky each scored 11 points.
Senior Stephen Rudnicki dished out six assists and Ziemnik was the team leader with six boards.

Tiknis led all scorers with a career-high 23 points while sophomore Landon Gamble added 16 points and a game-high 9 rebounds for the Cardinals. Sophomore CJ Goldthree and junior Derek Raridon each scored 15.

Illinois Wesleyan travels to face Carthage (12-10, 6-5 CCIW), a 69-67 winner over No. 19-ranked Wheaton on Tuesday in Kenosha, Wis.