ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- Despite building up a 13-point lead in the first half, the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team was handled down the final 28 minutes of the game in losing, 89-65, to No. 3-ranked Augustana in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin semifinal at the Carver P.E. Center in Rock Island, Ill., on Friday, Feb. 22.

Illinois Wesleyan slips to 18-9 this season and will await its fate concerning a Pool C bid into the NCAA Division III men's championships. The selection show is Monday, Feb. 25, at 11:30 a.m. (Central time) on NCAA.com.

Augustana (24-2) will meet No. 21-ranked North Central (21-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday for the tourney title and the league's automatic entry into the NCAA Division III tournament. The teams split their two regular-season meetings this season, with the Vikings claiming a 76-59 win at home on Jan. 2 and North Central prevailing, 68-63, on its home court Jan. 31. Go here for the CCIW tournament website.

The Titans led by a 29-16 score with 8:41 left in the first half before the Vikings went on a 23-8 surge to forge into a 39-37 lead at intermission. A Nolan Ebel 3-pointer with :03 remaining gave Augie its first and only lead of the first half and when they scored the first 10 points of the second half to go ahead by 12 at 49-37 with 16:34 left, they never relinquished the lead and the Titans got no closer than seven.

Illinois Wesleyan shot .355 from the field (22 of 62), their third-lowest of the season, and were limited to seven of 28 from the floor in the second half (.250) while being outscored 50-28 and outrebounded 27-11 in the final 20 minutes. Augustana had an overall 44-31 lead on the boards and each team committed 13 turnovers.

Seniors Brady Rose and Colin Bonnett scored 25 and 18, respectively, while junior Alex O'Neill got a game-high eight rebounds with seven points.

Ebel had 27 points to pace Augustana with 12 points coming from Austin Elledge and 11 from Pierson Wofford.