THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- In a back-and-forth struggle that saw seven ties and seven lead changes, the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team lost a 76-70 game to Nio. 12-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point at the California Lutheran Holiday Classic on Saturday, Dec. 29, at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

After a 7-0 start to the season, Illinois Wesleyan is now 8-5 overall while the Pointers improved to 8-2.

IWU built up a nine-point lead at 25-16 with 12:04 before intermission, but the Pointers went on a 14-5 run to tie the game at 30 with 6:17 left and took a one point 37-36 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The teams exchanged leads early in the second half and the Titans had a 49-48 lead before a Nate Dodge 3-pointer staked Stevens Point to a 51-49 lead and they held the advantage the remainder of the game. IWU got within two at 9:43 but no closer.

Titan senior Brady Rose made five of 10 3-point shots and finished with 23 points while junior Alex O'Neill scored the team's first six points and finished with 13 along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior Jason Gregoire added 11 points.

Illinois Wesleyan fired at a .423 clip (22 of 52) from the field and made eight treys in 18 tries (.444) while shooting .720 from the line (18-of-25).

Stevens Point was led by 31 points from Dodge, who sniped in seven-of-11 3-pointers. Canon O'Heron scored 14 and Drew Fredrickson chipped in 11.

The Pointers shot .469 from the field (23 of 49) and went 10 of 24 from 3-point land (.417). Wis.-Stevens Point converted on 20 of 23 free throws (.870), including eight straight in the final 33 seconds.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan (1-3 in league play) resumes College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play on Wednesday, Jan. 2, with a 7 p.m. game against North Park at the corner of Foster & Kedzie in Chicago. The Vikings are 4-9 overall and 2-2 in the CCIW with wins over Wheaton (68-65) and North Central (95-88).