Box Score
WHEATON, Ill. - The No. 25-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team built up a 19-point halftime lead and held off a late rally to upset No. 8 Wheaton 83-80 in the first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game of the year on Wednesday (Jan. 2) at King Arena in Wheaton.
• Illinois Wesleyan improved to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW with the win while Wheaton is 10-2 and 0-1 in the league.
• The Titans led by a 45-26 score at halftime and were ahead by as many as 23 points at 57-34 with 14:47 remaining in the contest.
• The Titans shot 43.3 percent from the field (26 of 60) and made 4 of 11 3-point efforts (36.4). IWU was 27 of 40 from the free throw line (67.5 percent). The Thunder finished at 45.0 percent from the field (27 of 60), connected on 7 of 21 from beyond the 3-point stripe (33.3) and hit 19 of 29 free throws (65.5).
• Illinois Wesleyan held a convincing 50-32 edge in rebounds over Wheaton and the Titans committed 13 turnovers compared to eight for the Thunder.
• Wheaton played without starting 6-6 forward Nathan Haynes, missing with the flu. Haynes averages 11.1 rebounds and 8.1 points per game.
• "Winning (conference games) on road is hard to do so this is a good win,” Illinois Wesleyan head coach
Ron Rose told WJBC Radio after the game. “We played a great first half, really defended well and allowed them just one offensive rebound. Then we hit some big free throws at the end of the game.”
Illinois Wesleyan Statistics Leaders
Junior
Brady Zimmer (20 points, 3 assists)
Sophomore
Pat Sodemann (18 points)
Junior
Victor Davis (13 points, 8 rebounds)
Junior
Andrew Ziemnik (8 rebounds)
Wheaton Statistics Leaders
Tyler Peters (26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists)
Brayden Teuscher (18 points)
Peter Smith (11 points, 8 rebounds)
Caleb DeMoss (11 points)
Who's Next?
The Titans will play their first CCIW home game of the season, hosting Elmhurst at 7 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 5) at the Shirk Center. The Bluejays were 4-7 in nonconference games and played No. 1-nationally ranked North Central on Wednesday.
