Titans End Non-Conference Slate With 67-61 Upset Loss at Cal Lutheran

12/30/2014 10:59:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Matt Kinney, Sports Information Assistant, mkinney@iwu.edu

Box Score

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – No. 9-ranked Illinois Wesleyan fell behind by as many as 14 and was unable to overcome 15 turnovers in a 67-61 upset loss to California Lutheran on Tuesday, Dec. 30, in the 20th annual Thrivent Financial Classic title game at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Illinois Wesleyan ends non-conference play with an 8-3 record and the Kingsmen defended the title of their own tourney and are now 6-2.

With 25 points and 14 rebounds in the two games, junior Ryan Coyle was named to the all-tournament team along with sophomore Andy Stempel, who scored 16 points in two games.

Wesleyan collected 33 rebounds compared to 30 for Cal Lutheran but did not score any second chance points while giving up six to the Kingsmen. A night after scoring 50 bench points in a win over Nazareth, the Titans were only able to come up with 18 bench points and gave up 22 points off turnovers to Cal Lutheran.

IWU and Cal Lutheran exchanged the lead back and forth early in the first half before Cal Lutheran would take the lead for good, eventually building a 10 point lead to take to the locker room at the end of the first half. The Kingsmen held the Titans to only 24 first half points, with 11 of the 24 coming from the charity stripe for IWU. Cal Lutheran would build the lead up to 14 before IWU would try to mount a comeback, cutting the lead to as low as four before the Kingsmen hit free throws down the stretch to secure the six point win.

Coyle and senior Dylan Overstreet were the only two Titans in double figures, scoring 18 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Trevor Seibring fell just shy of a double-double, scoring eight points and pulling in nine rebounds while Alec Bausch scored six points coming in off the bench. "We overvalued ourselves a bit and the first 10 minutes is what set the tone for the game," head coach Ron Rose told WJBC Radio in a postgame interview. "We turned the ball over 15 times and that's not us."

Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .431 (22 of 51)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .312 (5 of 16)
Free Throw Percentage - .750 (12 of 16)
Coyle (18 points, 9 rebounds)
Overstreet (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
Sophomore Trevor Seibring (8 points, 9 rebounds)
Stempel (7 points)
Sophomore Alec Bausch (6 points, 3 rebounds)

Cal Lutheran Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .442 (23 of 52)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .556 (5 of 9)
Free Throw Percentage - .762 (16 of 21)
Coltrane Powdrill (19 points, 5 rebounds)
Arik Smith (18 points)
Connor McGuire (10 points, 6 steals, 4 blocks)

Who's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan has a short turnaround, traveling back to the Midwest from California then heading to Naperville, Ill. to open College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play against No. 21 North Central (10-1) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3.

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