BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Career-high scoring performances by sophomore Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) and junior Doug Wallen (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central) led the Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team to a 85-73 victory over College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe  and 17th-ranked Elmhurst College, Wednesday evening, Feb. 12, inside the Shirk Center.

Leritz scored 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and Wallen went 8-for-14 from the floor for 21 points to help improve the Titans to 15-7 overall record with a 9-4 CCIW mark. The Bluejays dropped to 18-5 overall and 9-5 in conference play. In addition to big nights from Leritz and Wallen, Illinois Wesleyan saw several players step up in the absence of freshman Luke Yoder as sophomores Keondre Schumacher (Bloomington, Ill.-University), Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour), and Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) and senior Bernie Coderre (Flossmoor, Ill.-Homewood-Flossmoor) shared point guard duties. Schumacher scored 13 points, dished out four assists, and tallied three steals, while Noe added 11 points, four boards, and six helpers off the bench. Lambesis, who was tasked with defending the conference's top scorer, finished with nine points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals in a stat-stuffing showing.

In the first half, the Titans pulled ahead 22-10 after a dunk by Lambesis forced Elmhurst take a timeout just five minutes into the game. The Bluejays made a 12-4 run in a 5:41 span to make the score 26-22 with 9:07 remaining, but IWU responded with a 10-4 run of its own capped by a three-pointer by Noe to give the Titans a 36-26 lead with 3:14 left in the half.

Illinois Wesleyan saw its 38-33 halftime advantage erased as Elmhurst tied the game on three separate occasions before Leritz put the Titans up for good with 12:15 to go.

Schumacher found Wallen for back-to-back layups in transition, including a three-point play, to give IWU a 71-59 lead with 7:27 to go. Both teams exchanged made baskets before a steal by Noe that turned into a layup by Schumacher expanded IWU's  lead to 81-69 with just over two minutes to go. The Titans went on to lead by as many as 14 before securing the 12-point victory.

IWU finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor including 10-of-23 from beyond the arc, and went 7-of-11 on free throws. Elmhurst also shot 50 percent overall with a 10-of-22 performance on three-pointers, and shot 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. The Titans outscored the Bluejays 26-2 on fast break points while also forcing 18 turnovers.

The Titans travel to Wheaton College for their next game, Saturday, Feb. 15, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. as the second leg of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team.