BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team survived a second half comeback to earn an 82-69 win over Webster University in the semifinals of the Frontier Communications Tip-Off Tournament at IWU's Shirk Center on Friday, Nov. 18. Senior
Andy Stempel led the charge, scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Stempel added seven rebounds and an assist to cap off his night.
Four Titans scored in double-figures on Friday, including Stempel. Senior
Trevor Seibring was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the charity stripe to finish the game with 15 points. Sophomore
Colin Bonnett had a career night, matching his career-high with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior
Alec Bausch was the final double-digit scorer for IWU adding 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench.
IWU held a sizable advantage on the glass, hauling in 41 rebounds in comparison to 22 for Webster. Junior
Jaylen Beasley finished with a game and career-high eight rebounds. The Titans crashed the offensive boards to collect 13 rebounds which led to 16 second-chance points. Junior
Brady Rose tallied a game-high seven assists for the Titans, who out assisted the Gorloks 21-12.
Defensively the Gorloks were unable to stop the Titans efficient scoring attack in either half. IWU shot 48.5 percent from the floor in half one before following it up with a 55.6 percent shooting performance in the second. Free-throw shooting was key for the Titans in the second half. IWU shot 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) from the foul line.
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan faces off against Loras College in the championship game tomorrow night after the Duhawks bested Aurora University in the 5:00 p.m. matchup. Loras had strong performances from senior's Justin VanWambeke and Christian Mathis in their 112-99 win over Aurora. VanWambeke led the team with 35 points while Mathis collected a double-double on 24 points and 10 rebounds. The Titans own a 3-2 record against Loras all-time despite Loras winning two of the last three. Last years bout resulted in a 91-82 decision in favor of the Duhawks. The championship match is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Shirk Center on Nov. 19, 2016.
Third-Place Game: After losses on Friday, Aurora University and Webster Univeristy will face-off in the third-place matchup. Against Loras, Aurora's Marcus Myers collected a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds ... Six Spartans scored in double-figures against the Duhawks in the semi-final ... Aurora shot 45.9 percent from the floor in the semi-final ... Three Gorloks scored in double-figures against the Titans ( Ward 16, Milligan 15, Moore 13) ... Webster shot 47.4 percent against IWU including 51.7 percent in the second-half ... Action for the third-place game will take place at 5:00 p.m. prior to the tip-off of the tournament final ...
