BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan football team saw a 24-17 halftime lead disappear in the final half in a 48-24 loss to Wheaton College on Homecoming at Tucci Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The Titans are now 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the No. 6 ranked Thunder improved to 5-0 this season and a perfect 3-0 in CCIW play.

Illinois Wesleyan got 344 yards of total offense in the first half compared to 272 from Wheaton but the Titans managed 118 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes compared to 270 for the Thunder. Illinois Wesleyan was limited to -5 yards rushing in the second half as freshman quarterback Brandon Bauer was sacked five times. IWU got 63 yards rushing in the game on 27 carries.

Bauer was 11 of 15 for 276 yards and three TDs in the first half and finished with 22 of 33 for 399 yards with two interceptions.

Senior Adam Muellers made five catches for 122 yards and a TD while sophomore Mitch Pfeiffer had five receptions for 69 yards. Senior Austin Wagner had four catches for a team-high 101 yards and a score.

Senior Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore had 65 rushing yards on 11 carries and senior Austin Harrell made two carries for four yards.

"I thought we played an outstanding first half and really were able to do anything we wanted on offense," said IWU head coach Norm Eash. "We had a nightmare third quarter where we couldn't establish anything offensively, left our defense on the field too long. we just didn't meet the challenge they had for us in the second half."

Illinois Wesleyan was also stung by 111 yards of penalties (13) compared to 40 penalty yards for Wheaton (on five).

Senior linebacker Sean Garvey had 11 total tackles with a quarterback sack and junior free safety Matt Campbell had eight tackles (four solo). Senior defensive end Kyle Venhuizen had an interception and a quarterback sack and junior Josh Akin also made a sack among his four total tackles.

Wheaton quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 28 of 35 passes for 351 yards and four touchdowns while running back Sola Olateju rushed for 171 yards and a TD on 21 carries. Phillip Nichols made 10 receptions for 133 yards and Chase White had five grabs for 85 yards and two TDs. Trey Hanley and Zach Lindquist also had scoring catches for the Thunder, who were aided by field goals of 32 yards by Daniel Gray as time expired in the first half and 19 yards by Griffin Bowes with 8:53 to play in the game.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan hosts Augustana in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Tucci Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 8.