ELMHURST, Ill. -- The No. 16-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team never trailed and were never tied in the game, coasting to an 88-57 road win over Elmhurst College on Saturday, Dec. 10 at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Ill.

The win ended a two-game losing streak as IWU improved to 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while Elmhurst is 3-5 overall and also 1-2 in the league. The victory helped IWU avoid going 0-3 in CCIW play for the first time in the league's 70-year history.

The Titans scored the first five points of the game and jumped out to an early 10-point lead at 14-4 (14:39 left in first half). The Bluejays got within six at 18-12 with 9:38 before halftime but IWU went on a 12-2 run to hold a 30-14 lead with 5:59 before halftime and Elmhurst never got within 10 the rest of the game. IWU led at intermission, 41-25.

"It's just so much easier to play with a lead," said IWU head coach Ron Rose in a postgame interview on his birthday with WJBC Radio. "After a couple of losses I thought we responded to a tough week. Our level will be how well we defend and rebounding the basketball has to be one of our things, and I thought we did both well today."

Senior Trevor Seibring and junior Brady Rose led IWU with 15 points each with junior Tyler Burdine leading the team with 11 rebounds while contributing seven points.

Illinois Wesleyan held a commanding 45-32 lead in rebounds against a team that had been averaging 11.3 boards per game more than opponents.

IWU shot .517 from the field (31 of 60) and .348 from 3-point territory (8 of 23) while sinking 18 of 23 free throws (.783). Elmhurst, who got a  team-high 13 points from Nathan Rogers, shot .338 (22 of 65) from the floor, a season-low for an IWU opponent so far this season. Elmhurst shot .261 from beyond the arc (6 of 23) and canned 7 of 13 free throws.

GAME NOTES: A check of the year-by-year records shows that being 0-2 in conference play is a rarity in IWU men's basketball history … The last time Illinois Wesleyan opened with two losses in CCIW play was in 2008-09 (lost to Wheaton and North Central under Rose) and before that it was 1957-58 (lost to Wheaton and Elmhurst under coach Jack Horenberger) …IWU teams have lost two games or fewer in 25 of the 70 previous conference seasons (35.7 percent).

WHAT'S NEXT: Illinois Wesleyan has final exams next week and will hit the hardwood again next Saturday, Dec. 17, with a 7 p.m. game at Washington U. in St. Louis … The Bears [6-1] are No. 13 in the latest D3hoops.com poll.