BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A second half surge from Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team gave the Titans an 80-71 victory over Millikin University in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play, Saturday, Jan. 4, inside the Shirk Center. Freshman Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic HS) led all Titans with 18 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 8-of-9 on free throws as IWU moved to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in league play.

Millikin held a 42-37 advantage at halftime before the Titans scored 43 in the second half while holding the Big Blue to 29 points. The Titans led by as many as 14 late in the game, with a scoring run of 13 straight points being the deciding factor.

Three other Titans joined Yoder in double figures as sophomore Keondre Schumacher (Bloomington, Ill.-University HS) scored 12, junior Doug Wallen (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central HS) scored 11, and sophomore Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet HS) scored 10 off the bench. Junior Charlie Bair (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South HS) grabbed a game-high 12 boards while adding nine points of his own in the winning effort.

Illinois Wesleyan dominated the paint 40-20 and held a 12-0 lead in fastbreak points. IWU finished the game 27-of-60 from the field and 7-of-17 from distance with Yoder, Schumacher, and Noe knocking down two triples apiece. Millikin hit 10 three-pointers and connected on 43.3 percent of its shot attempts. IWU knocked down 19-of-24 free throw attempts, while MU hit just 3-of-8 shots from the charity stripe.

The men's basketball team returns to action Wednesday, Jan. 8 as they travel to Naperville, Ill. to take on North Central College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.