ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team was outpaced by the No. 4-ranked Elmhurst Bluejays as the Titans took an 89-72 defeat Wednesday evening, Jan. 22, at R.A. Faganel Hall. IWU saw its record drop to 11-6 on the season (5-3 CCIW), while Elmhurst improved its record to 16-1 (7-1 CCIW).

Sophomore Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) led all Titans with a career-high 22 point effort on 10-of-16 shooting along with eight rebounds. Freshman Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic HS) scored 12 points going 4-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Junior Doug Wallen (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central HS) was IWU's leading rebounder with nine boards to go with 10 points.

The Titans held the advantage in turnovers caused, 16 to 14, over the Bluejays, but only made 39.7 percent of their field goal attempts while Elmhurst made 55.4 percent of its shots.

The Titans held a slim lead halfway through the first half before the Bluejays scored 21-straight points over an almost seven-minute span. Elmhurst had a 43-23 lead at halftime and led by as many as 29 in the second period. IWU could only cut the deficit to 17 points as the Bluejays led by at least 20 for a majority of the second half.

Next up for the men's hoops team is a home College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matchup against North Central College, next Wednesday, Jan. 29. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.