BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Four players scored in double figures and 12 players scored points in a 90-68 season-opening win by the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team over visiting Fontbonne University on Dennie  Bridges Court at the Shirk Center on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

Junior Colin Bonnett scored a team-high 13 points while sophomore transfers Alex O'Neill and Zach Knobloch opened their IWU careers with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Miles Curry added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Head coach Ron Rose's plan to play several players worked out with 45 of IWU's points scored by non-starters.

Senior Jaylen Beasley had nine rebounds as Illinois Wesleyan held a commanding 49-36 edge on the boards with 18 of those coming on the offensive end. Freshman Grant Wolfe handed out a team-leading six assists as the Titans shared the ball for 22 assists on their 31 buckets.

Thomas Ritter scored a game-high 18 points for the Griffins while Kris McCann added 11 and James Wiggins scored 10.

IWU held a 16 point lead at halftime, 46-30, but the Griffins closed to within 10 at 50-40 with 17:27 left in the game. After an IWU time out, two 3-point baskets by Nick Coleman staked the Titans to a 16-point advantage (56-40) and IWU eventually ran up a 27-point lead at 90-63 with 2:24 left.

For the game, Fontbonne connected on 41.4 percent of its field goal tries (24 of 58) while IWU shot at a 40.8 clip (31 of 76). The Titans were deadly from the free throw line, making 18 of 19 (.947) and knocked in 10 of 31 3-point efforts (.323).

What's Next?
With three home games in four days, the Titans host Alma College on Friday at 7 p.m. and Calvin College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.