ATLANTA, Ga. – The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team was held to season-low totals of 56 points, 33 rebounds and six 3-point field goals in suffering a 72-56 setback at Emory University in the Emory Classic at the Woodruff P.E. Center in Atlanta, Ga., on Thursday, December 28.

Illinois Wesleyan had their first road loss of the season and slips to 8-3 and Emory, the No. 17 team in the preseason poll, improved to 7-2.
 
"We didn't shoot the ball well at all," said Ron Rose in a postgame interview on WJBC Radio. "I thought we got some great looks but we just didn't shoot it and Emory's changing and switching defenses made us tentative.
"Early in the second half I thought we got our rhythm going a little bit, then the lid seemed to go on the basket. Six of 28 in 3-pointers [.214] won't win many games. It was a rough day."
 
The Titans' previous low point output this season was 68 with six 3-pointers at North Central and they were limited to 33 rebounds against WashU. IWU's total field goals (19), overall field goal percentage (.322) and 3-point field goal percentage were also season-lows.

Brady Rose led the Titans with 17 points and senior Jaylen Beasley added 10 points with a game-high eight rebounds as Emory outboarded IWU, 41-33.

Playing for the first time since Dec. 19, the Titans had their lowest-scoring first half of the season, held to a 32-26 deficit as neither team had a shooting rhythm in the first 20 minutes. IWU managed just .308 from the floor (8 of 26) and the Eagles, playing for the first time since Dec. 16, shot .323 (10 of 31).
 
In the first two minutes after the break, IWU outscored Emory 10-3 to take a 36-35 lead at 18:08. But Emory went on an eight-point surge to get a 43-36 lead before the Titans rallied with seven straight to tie the game at 43-43 with 13:42 to play.
 
But the Eagles dominated play over the next five minutes, outscoring IWU by a 15-4 margin to get an 11-point lead at 8:02 to play in the game, and outscored IWU 29-13 in the final 13:42. Emory's largest lead was 16 with the final score of 72-56. The closest the Titans got down the stretch was within eight at 62-54 with 4:46 to play.
 
The Eagles shot .411 (23 of 56) and made 52 percent of their second-half shots (13 of 25). Preseason All-American Adam Gigax scored 21 points while Beau Bommarito and Whitt Rapp each tallied 12 for the Eagles.
 
What's Next?
The Titans will play at 1 p.m. Central on Friday (Dec. 29) against Birmingham Southern in the Emory Classic in Atlanta, Ga. The Panthers are 3-6 prior to a game Thursday afternoon against Transylvania. The game will be played at the Woodruff P.E. Center on the Emory campus.