Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped in a 76-73 loss at No. 22-ranked Elmhurst on Saturday, Jan. 24.
 
The Titans are now 13-5 overall and Elmhurst is 15-3 overall with both teams owning 5-2 records midway through the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin campaign.
 
The Bluejays had a 31-30 lead at halftime of the contest that had 10 lead changes and seven ties. IWU's last lead in the game was at 36-33 with 18:57 to play in the game after a 3-pointer by senior Dylan Overstreet. The final tie of the game came at 38-38 with 17:16 to play in the game before the Bluejays went on a 9-0 run and took a 47-38 lead with 15:22 to go.

Trailing by 15 (69-42) at the 7:21 mark, the Titans closed to within five points at 72-67 with 1:16 left.

After an Elmhurst free throw, a Bryce Dolan 3-pointer got IWU within four at 74-70 with 1:00 remaining. After a Bluejay turnover, Overstreet connected on another 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to get IWU within one point at 74-73.

Peyton Wyatt made one of two free throws to stake EC to a 75-73 lead with 19 seconds left but the Titans failed to convert at their end to tie or take a lead. Elmhurst's Eric Leonard knocked in one of two free throws with 2 seconds remaining to seal the win.

"Our fight was good and I was happy we kept playing and didn't give up," said IWU head coach Ron Rose in a postgame interview on WJBC Radio. "We seemd to be out of sync all game. It was a very physical game and nothing came easy. We certainly didn't shoot it like we have been lately and I was disappointed offensively .. we seemed to be a low-pass offense today."
 
The Bluejays finished with a 43-40 advantage in rebounds (with 16 on the offensive glass) but outrebounded IWU 30-20 in the second half after trailing 20-13 in boards in the first 20 minutes. The Titans admitted to 12 turnovers to eight for the Bluejays.

Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .393 (24 of 61)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .355 (11 of 31)
Free Throw Percentage - .700 (14 of 20)
Senior Jordan Nelson (17 points)
Overstreet (14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists)
Sophomore Alec Bausch (11 points, 7 rebounds)
 
Elmhurst Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .433 (26 of 53)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .313 (5 of 16)
Free Throw Percentage - .633 (19 of 30)
Kyle Wuest (18 points, 10 rebounds)
Bryant Ackerman (11 points)
Erik Crittenden (10 points)
Will Nixon (12 points)
 
Who's Next?
The Titans begin the second round of play against CCIW opponents by hosting Wheaton at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The Thunder was 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the league prior to a home game Saturday against Carthage.