BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 18-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team defeated the University of Chicago by a final score of 72-54 on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Chicago entered into Tuesday night's contest ranked first in the national Division III statistics with a .550 shooting percentage and the Titans stifled the Maroon offense, holding them to .235 percent shooting from beyond the arc (4-of-17) and .370 shooting overall (20-of-54).

With the win, the Titans improve to 8-2 on the season, while Chicago falls to 8-2.
Prior to Tuesday's contest, the Maroons received 53 votes in the d3hoops.com poll which placed them just outside the top 25.

IWU held a sizable 38-31 lead at halftime before extending their lead to 18 following a 34-23 score in the second period.

Junior Jaylen Beasley notched his best game of the season offensively, scoring a team-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting (4-of-5 from 3-point range). Beasley was followed by fellow junior Brady Rose, whose 12 point outing ranked second on the team. Senior Andy Stempel got close to a triple-double with nine points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Titans held Tyler Howard and Noah Karras to a combined 3-of-16 shooting and 11 points. Heading into Tuesday's contest the pair averaged 27.4 points per game on .537 percent shooting. Howard and Karras each came into the contest shooting above .470 from beyond the arc. The Maroons typically shoot .440 percent from beyond the arc, but were held to 4-of-17 shooting from deep on Tuesday. As a team, the Titans forced 18 turnovers while scoring 19 points off those opportunities. 

What's Next?
Following a short break for the holidays, the Titans will head east to Staten Island, N.Y. for the CSI Annual Tournament of Heroes. At CSI they will face Middlebury College at 4:30 CST on Dec. 29. Middlebury is currently receiving votes in the top 25 poll. On Dec. 30 IWU will face either Bridgewater College or College of Staten Island.