WHEATON, Ill. – Senior Jaylen Beasley knocked in two 3-pointers in the last 1:28 of the game, including the game-winner in the final seconds to give the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team an 82-79 win at Wheaton College on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
 
Illinois Wesleyan is 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while Wheaton is 5-2 this season and 1-1 in the CCIW.
 
Senior guard Brady Rose had a team-high 26 points, eclipsing 20 points for the fourth straight game, while Beasley added 13 points with eight rebounds and sophomore Alex O'Neill had 11 points and snagged a game-high nine rebounds as IWU held a commanding 50-32 rebounding lead in the game.
 
Aston Francis scored 30 points and Ricky Samuelson added 17 for the Thunder in the loss.
 
The Titans stretched out a 10-point lead at 32-22 in the first half and led at intermission 39-34. IWU went ahead by 11 at 49-38 with 17:02 to play in the game before the Thunder went on a 20-10 run to assume a 59-58 advantage with 11:57 remaining.

Wheaton charged ahead to a 73-69 lead before the Titans took five straight points to get a 74-73 lead on a Rose 3-pointer. With the game tied at 77-77, Rose hit free throws with 48 seconds left and the game was tied for the 11th time at 79-79 when Francis knocked in a pair of free throws with 37 seconds remaining.

An offensive rebound by O'Neill on a 3-point miss kept the ball in IWU's possession to set up Beasley's game-winner.

For a team that savors 3-point shots, IWU met its match in Wheaton as the Thunder hoisted 32 3-balls, making 11 for a 34.4 percentage, while IWU made nine of 26 long-range efforts (34.6 percent). Wheaton committed nine turnovers to 13 for Illinois Wesleyan
 
What's Next?
The Titans play another crucial CCIW road game at North Central College on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. The Cardinals are 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the league after a 79-72 loss at Augustana on Wednesday night.