WHEATON, Ill. -- The Wheaton Thunder outscored Illinois Wesleyan, 23-6, over the final 6:06 of the game to rally to an 81-67 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win at King Arena in Wheaton on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

The loss puts Illinois Wesleyan at 16-7 overall and 8-6 in the CCIW while the Thunder improved to 12-11 overall and also 8-6 in the league. Augustana (11-3) is the league leader followed by Carthage and North Park with 9-5 records while the Titans and Thunder are tied for fourth with two games remaining.

In a game that had five ties and seven lead changes, IWU had a 61-58 advantage at 6:09 remaining before an Astin Francis 3-pointer tied the game at 61-61 with 5:47 left. Wheaton limited IWU to two points (a layup by senior Trevor Seibring at 4:21) over the next 4:18 to churn to a 75-63 lead with 1:36 left.

Illinois Wesleyan shot only .256 from the field in the second half (10 of 39) after firing at a .500 clip (13 of 26) in the first half. In the game IWU made 10 of 34 3-point attempts, 5-of-21 in the final 20 minutes, for a .294 percentage.

In the first half IWU built up a 29-18 lead, their largest of the game, with 5:45 left before halftime but the Thunder responded with a 15-4 run to tie the game at 33-33 and eventually claimed a 38-37 edge at the break.

Junior Brady Rose led three Titans in double figure scoring with 19 points while sophomore Colin Bonnett had 14 points (12 in the first half on four 3-pointers) and Seibring added 12.

Seibring, Rose and seniors Austin Amann and Alec Bausch each collected five rebounds as the Titans were outrebounded by a 50-33 count and Wheaton gathered in 18 offensive boards.

Francis, who ranks No. 11 in Division III scoring, poured in 31 and netted seven 3-pointers to add to his school record 87. Jay Spencer came off the bench to score 19 points and get 11 rebounds and reserve Jake Mlagan scored 14. Jake Peters scored only two points but snagged a game-high 13 rebounds.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan honors four seniors on "Seniors' Day" on Saturday, Feb. 18. Tipoff against North Central (14-10, 8-7 CCIW) will be at 7 p.m. … The Titans close out the regular season at home on Tuesday, Feb. 21, against Augustana and it will be "Matt 'the Cat' Adams Night" at the Shirk Center with a towel giveaway featuring the likeness of the long-time IWU "fan-volunteer-assistant coach-bat boy-question answerer."