Box Score

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – No. 9-ranked Illinois Wesleyan scored the first six points of the game and never looked back in a 84-41 wire-to-wire win over Nazareth on Monday, Dec. 29, in the opening round of the 20th annual Thrivent Financial Classic at Gilbert Arena on the campus of Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Illinois Wesleyan improved to 8-2 this season while the Golden Flyers slip to 2-4.

Wesleyan held a slight edge over Nazareth on the boards, 37-31, and committed 10 turnovers while forcing 22 Golden Flyer turnovers. The Titans had assists on 24 of their 34 baskets and shot only two free throws on the night, both coming in the final minute of the game. 

IWU never trailed and led by as many as 28 points in the first half at 43-15 to end the period. The Titans opened the game with back-to-back three's to take an early 6-0 lead and buried nine first half first half three's shooting .692 (9-13) from beyond the arc. Nazareth would cut the Titan lead to 10 at 16-6 with 10:50 left in the first half, but would never get closer as IWU would outscore the Golden Flyers 27-9 to end the half. 

The Titans scored the first six points of the second half to open up a 49-15 lead before Nazareth went on an 8-0 run, holding IWU scoreless for nearly five minutes. IWU would go on an 8-0 run of their own later on in the second half to extend its lead to 66-33 with 8:03 left in the game and win by 43, their largest margin of victory this season. Illinois Wesleyan got 12 players into the scoring column, with no player scoring more than 10 points and the bench contributing 50 of the 84 points scored. 

Juniors Joel Pennington and Bryce Dolan paced the Titans with 10 points each while sophomore Trevor Seibring and junior Ryan Coyle each pulled down five caroms. "It was great to get out to a good start right off the tip," head coach Ron Rose told WJBC Radio in a postgame interview. "We have our work cut out for us and we're anxious to get into that championship game tomorrow night."


Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .515 (34 of 66)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .538 (14 of 26)
Free Throw Percentage - 1.000 (2 of 2)
Pennington (10 points, 3 assists)
Dolan (10 points, 2 assists)
Sophomore Andy Stempel (9 points, 4 rebounds)
Senior Jordan Nelson (9 points)
Coyle (7 points, 5 rebounds)

Nazareth Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .320 (16 of 50)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .182 (2 of 11)
Free Throw Percentage - .500 (7 of 14)
Nick Nadeau (13 points)
Maurice Mills (7 points, 6 rebounds)
Denzell Jackson (7 points, 6 rebounds)

Who's Next?
IWU will play host school Cal Lutheran at 8 p.m. (Pacific time) on Tuesday in the championship game of the 20th annual Thrivent Financial Classic. Cal Lutheran improved to 5-2 with an 82-60 win over Fontbonne in Monday's first game. The Kingsmen, who are the defending tournament champions, were led by Martin Flowers, who came off the bench to score 17 points while Arik Smith (15), Coltrane Powdrill (12) and Connor McGuire (10) also scored in double figures.