KENOSHA, Wis. – The No. 23-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team claimed a share of its 30th overall College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship with a 92-63 win over Carthage College on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
 
It is IWU's first CCIW title since 2014 and the Titans can get its 24th outright men's basketball championship with a win Tuesday against North Central at the Shirk Center. Go here to see listing of all Illinois Wesleyan CCIW championships.

The Titans improved to 19-5 overall and 12-3 in the league while Carthage lost its fourth straight and has a 12-12 record overall and is 7-8 in the conference. Go here for CCIW standings.
 
"I thought we really played with a sense of purpose in everything we did," IWU head coach Ron Rose told WJBC's Eric Stock in a postgame interview. "At the end of the first half, we played well defensive and offensively, finding the open man."
Illinois Wesleyan trailed 8-3 early before scoring 10 straight points to take a 13-8 lead, then Carthage battled back to take a 22-20 lead with 10:24 left in the half. But the Titans kept the Red Men from scoring for the next five minutes and had a 36-22 lead with 5:19 before halftime. Illinois Wesleyan had a 32-4 run in the final half of the first period to hold a 52-26 lead at the break, shooting 54.1 percent from the field (20 of 37) and 52.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 17).
 
The Titans had their largest advantage, a 38-point lead at 78-40, with 10:27 to play. IWU had a 35-31 rebounding lead in the game and committed only seven turnovers while forcing 14.
 
Sophomore Alex O'Neill led the Titans with a season-high 17 points and eight rebounds while juniors Colin Bonnett and Brady Rose each had 13 and sophomore Miles Curry added 12 as 12 IWU players scored in the game.
Rose had praise for the sophomore center, saying, "Alex was all over the boards and was very active tonight. This second semester he has been evolving as a player, becoming more aggressive, and really showed a lot of his arsenal in first half."
 
Kienan Baltimore and Brad Kruse each had 14 points to lead the Red Men.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
Illinois Wesleyan hosts North Central at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 20 to close out the regular season … The Cardinals are 17-7 overall and 10-5 in the league after a 72-55 win at Wheaton on Saturday.

CCIW TOURNAMENTS: If the Illinois Wesleyan men and women both host the postseason CCIW tournaments, it would be the first time it has ever occurred ... The women's semifinals would be on Thursday (Feb. 22) and the men's semifinals would be on Friday (Feb. 23). Both title games would be Saturday (Feb. 24) with the women's game at 2 p.m. and the men's game at 7:30 p.m. ... The CCIW women's tournament has gone on for 15 seasons, started in 2003, while the men's tournament has taken place since 2006 (12 years) ... The women's tournament field is set with IWU, Wheaton, Carthage and Elmhurst ... The men's tournament field is also set with IWU, Augustana, North Central and Wheaton.