BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The No. 15-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team lost for the third straight time, falling 90-83 at the Shirk Center to the Carroll Pioneers on Saturday, Dec. 15.
The Titans are now 7-3 overall and 1-3 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play while the Pios improved to 3-6 this season and are also 1-3 in the league.
Senior
Brady Rose, who was 10-of-18 from the field and made four 3-pointers, led the Titans with 27 points while senior
Colin Bonnett added 21 and junior
Alex O'Neill and sophomore
Doug Wallen each had scored 13.
Carroll got 27 points from Tyler Ingebrightsen, who came into the game averaging 7.6 points per contest. Carroll outrebounded Illinois Wesleyan, 36-33, and got a game-high nine boards from Charlie Soule, who also scored 13.
The Titans led 17-14 with 12:06 left in the first half before Carroll went on a 13-0 run to snag a 27-17 lead at the 9:46 mark. Trailing 36-26, Illinois Wesleyan went on a 10-point run of its own to tie the issue at 36 at the 3:23 mark. Instead of trailing by only four at intermission, the Titans were bitten by a three-quarter court shot by Blake Williams at the buzzer that gave the Pios a 46-39 lead.
The second half saw seven ties (50, 69, 71, 73, 76, 78, 80) and the Titans held an 83-82 lead with 1:18 left. Carroll got a basket and free throw by Soule to take an 85-83 lead and Troy Howat added two free throws with 24 seconds left after a Titan miss and foul on the defensive rebound.
The game had 11 total ties and 15 lead changes. Illinois Wesleyan shot .500 from the field (29 of 58) and made seven of 17 3-pointers (.412) while the Pios shot .516 (33 of 64) and were also seven of 17 in 3-point shooting. IWU made 18 of 28 free throws (.643) compared to 17 of 26 for the visitors (.654). On his career night, Ingebrightsen connected on 11 of 16 from the field, including one 3-pointer in one try, and made four of six from the stripe while also snagging seven boards.
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan gets away from CCIW action for a nonconference game on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. against Anderson University at the Shirk Center ... Anderson is 3-6 overall after losing on the road Saturday, 93-56, to Transylvania. The Ravens, who play in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, are coached by Owen Handy, a former player and 2003 graduate from Wheaton College, where he also served nine seasons as an assistant coach under Mike Schauer and Bill Harris.
