CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team staved off a furious North Park rally to win its fourth straight game, taking a 76-75 decision over the Vikings at the corner of Foster and Kedzie on Saturday, Jan. 13.
Illinois Wesleyan improved to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while North Park is now 4-10 and 1-5 in the league. The win, coupled with a Wheaton 75-66 loss to North Central, places IWU alone in first place in the conference standings with just one league loss. Wheaton, North Central, Augustana and Carthage each have two losses in the standings logjam.
North Park's loss offset a dynamic offensive performance by Colin Lake, who scored 46 points and sniped in nine of 12 3-pointers. Lake's is the first 40-point performance against IWU since Hope's Nate Snuggerud scored 40 in an NCAA game on March 3, 2012 and the most scored by an opponent since Wheaton's Kent Raymond hit IWU up for 44 points on Feb. 10, 2007.
Brady Rose led Illinois Wesleyan with 29 points and a team-best eight rebounds with junior
Colin Bonnett adding 16 and sophomore Alex O'Neill contributing 11 points, a team-high five assists and six rebounds as the Titans won the rebound battle, 38-30.
Illinois Wesleyan built up a 41-31 halftime lead. North Park was within three at 21-18 with 10:45 to go before IWU ran off six straight points to get a 27-18 lead and the Vikings weren't able to get closer than six the rest of the first period.
The Vikings got off to an 8-2 start after halftime to close to within four at 43-39 with 17:03 remaining but IWU accelerated with a 15-5 spurt to command a 58-44 lead with 10:42 left. The stubborn North Park team, with Lake scoring the team's final 14 points, shaved the game to a one-point difference at 76-75 with just 2 seconds left.
What's Next?
The Titans host Millikin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Shirk Center … The Big Blue is 8-7 overall and 1-5 in the CCIW under first-year head coach Mark Scherer, longtime head coach at Elmhurst (1996-2013).
