Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – After fighting off a sluggish start, the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team topped Elmhurst, 80-67 in the semifinals of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 27 in Rock Island.
 
The Titans, who were 2-for-13 from the field to open the game, improved to 19-7 overall and advance to Saturday's tournament championship game against the winner of the Augustana-North Central game later Friday.
 
Elmhurst is now 19-7 overall.
 
The Bluejays held the advantage early, leading by as many as eight points at 17-9 with 10:59 to go. But the Titans chipped away at the lead and caught Elmhurst at 24-24 with 4:52 left. A Pat Sodemann 3-pointer staked IWU to a 29-28 lead with 2:55 left and the Titans never trailed in the game after that point.
 
IWU led 35-32 at halftime and scored the first six of the second half to go up, 41-32, with 18:20 to play. The Titans built up their largest lead of 15 at 72-57 with 3:34 remaining.
 
The Titans had a 40-34 rebounding lead and IWU admitted to 14 turnovers to 12 for the Bluejays, but IWU converted those misues into 21 points.
 
Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .491 (26 of 53)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .412 (7 of 17)
Free Throw Percentage - .750 (21 of 28)
Sophomore Trevor Seibring (21 points, 4 rebounds)
Senior Dylan Overstreet (11 points, game-high 8 rebounds, 6 assists)
Junior Bryce Dolan (12 points)
Freshman Brady Rose (10 points)
 
Elmhurst Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .359 (23 of 64)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .316 (6 of 19)
Free Throw Percentage - .750 (15 of 20)
Erik Crittenden (24 points, 4 rebounds)
Kyle Wuest (10 points, 5 rebounds)
Eric Leonard (10 points)
 
Who's Next?
The Titans play either No. 8-ranked Augustana or North Central in the CCIW tournament final at Rock Island at 7 p.m. Saturday ... IWU has never won the conference postseason tournament, going 0-5 in final games.