BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team's path to a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship begins with a quarterfinal matchup with sixth-seeded Carthage College Tuesday night, Feb. 25, inside the Shirk Center. Tipoff between the Titans and Red Men, who will meet for the second time in four days, is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan completed the regular season sweep of Carthage, 91-81, in Kenosha, Wis. Saturday, Feb. 22. With the win, IWU moved to 17-8 overall and 10-5 in league play to clinch the No. 3 seed. Meanwhile, Carthage's loss dropped the sixth-seeded Red Men's record to 15-10 overall, 7-9 in CCIW play.
Fans can tune into the game via live stats or live stream, while Eric Stock and Joel Swanson will have the call on 98.3 FM WEXG. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
CCIW TOURNEY TILTS WITH CARTHAGE: Tuesday night's tilt against Carthage will mark the third time the Titans and Red Men will meet in the CCIW Tournament, and the first since 2014. IWU and Carthage have split the previous two meetings, with Carthage taking the initial meeting, 70-67, in the 2010 tournament and the Titans topping the Red Men, 76-71, in 2014.
OPENING ROUND REMATCH: Since the 2008-09 season, IWU has gone on to face off against its regular season finale opponent three times, with the four occasion set for Tuesday night against Carthage. Previous occurrences took place in 2019 (Carroll), 2018 (North Central), and 2015 (Elmhurst).
IWU AND THE CCIW TOURNAMENT: Illinois Wesleyan has made 11 CCIW Tournament appearances since the league began holding a tournament in 2006. Over that time, the Titans have gone 7-11 in CCIW Tournament games.
LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY: Illinois Wesleyan will look to became the first No. 3 seed in CCIW Tournament history to win the championship. Since 2006 the No. 3 seed has compiled an 8-16 record in the conference tournament. Additionally, just one team seeded outside of the top-two has gone on to win the tournament as fourth-seeded North Central did so in 2017.
SOPHOMORES SECURE WIN AT CARTHAGE: The sophomore quartet of Cory Noe, Keondre Schumacher, Matthew Leritz, and Peter Lambesis paved the way for the Titans in a 91-81 win at Carthage, Feb. 22. Noe poured in a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 3-for-5 from distance, in his first career start. Schumacher added 21 points, including five triples, while Leritz tallied 18 points and seven rebounds. Lambesis flirted with a triple-double, going for 11 points, six rebounds, and a career-high six assists, while also notching two steals.
The well-balanced offensive effort marked the first time IWU has had three players with 18-or-more points in a game since Dylan Overstreet (21), Victor Davis (19), Jordan Nelson (18) did so at Wheaton, Feb. 22, 2014.
REBOUNDING MACHINE: Freshman Cody Mitchell was huge for the Titans off the bench in their win at Carthage, Feb. 22, as the 6-foot-7 forward grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Mitchell, who also added four points and two assists, matched his rebounding total from the previous five games.
Moreover, Mitchell is averaging 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 points in 12.3 minutes per game over the past three contests.
CLASHING WITH CARTHAGE: Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage share a rivalry that dates back to the 1946-47 season. IWU owns a 104-27 lead in the 131-game history between the two conference foes, and has won the past four meetings. Additionally, the Titans hold a 25-7 record against the Red Men under the guidance of Ron Rose.
Illinois Wesleyan topped Carthage 91-81 in the regular season finale Saturday, Feb. 22, to complete the regular season sweep of the Red Men. Previously, the Titans took down an undefeated Red Men squad that was slotted No. 21 nationally in Bloomington, Dec. 7. IWU used a career-high 26-point effort from Luke Yoder and double-doubles from Doug Wallen (20 p-11r) and Charlie Bair (13 p-11 r) to hand CC its first loss of the season, 95-91, Dec. 7, 2019.
SCOUTING REPORT - CARTHAGE: The Red Men hold a 15-10 overall record and 7-9 CCIW mark and are the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. After piecing together a four-game win streak from Jan. 29-Feb. 12, Carthage dropped three in-a-row with those losses coming against Augustana (83-81), North Central (70-69), and IWU (91-81) to close the regular season.
Five players average double-digit scoring for Carthage, one of the league's most balanced offenses, led by Jordon Kedrowski's 15.9 points per game. Kienan Baltimore adds 15.4 points per contest and a team-high 90 assists, followed by Sean Johnson's near-double-double of 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest. Fillip Bulatovic and Crishawn Cook round things out at 10.0 ppg each. Crook is the CCIW leader with 47 steals on the season, while Johnson's 57 rejections are also the most in the league.
Overall, Carthage has been one of the most potent offensive teams in the league The Red Men are shooting 49.5 percent from the floor, the best mark in the conference, and convert 36.2 percent of their three-point attempts. Carthage holds a 37.7-36.4 edge on the glass and is limiting opponents to 77.28 points per game, while scoring 81.72 itself.
SHIRK'S 25TH BIRTHDAY: The 2019-20 season marks the 25th anniversary of the Shirk Center. One of the greatest athletic venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 600 Titan basketball games between both the men and women. The men hold a 274-56 record on their home floor, good for a .834 win percentage.
SERVING HIS ROLE, WHATEVER IT MAY BE: With injuries to Grant Wolfe and Luke Yoder, Peter Lambesis has been thrust into the role of point guard. In his past three games orchestrating the IWU offense, Lambesis has dished out five-or-more assists in four straight games. Most recently, the Mt. Prospect, Ill. product recorded a career-high six dimes in a win at Carthage, Feb. 22.
He has also averaged 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and has committed just six turnovers over that stretch.
FINDING HIS GROOVE: After missing the first month of the season due to injury, sophomore Matthew Leritz has found his groove as of late. The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 17.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game over the past nine contests. He has also been efficient, converting 64-of-109 (58.7 percent) of his shot attempts over the stretch.
YEAR 111: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 1680-917 record in its history, good for a .649 winning percentage. Additionally, the Titans 1660 wins are the fourth-most all-time in NCAA Division III. Meanwhile, IWU's 748 CCIW wins are by-far-and-above the most in the league. In fact, the Titans have more than 100 conference wins than any other school in the CCIW.
KEEPIN' IT CLEAN: The Titans are averaging just 12.0 turnovers per game, the third-best mark in the CCIW and the 59th-best nationally. IWU is forcing an average of 15.12 turnovers per game, the second-most in the league, and hold the league's second-best turnover margin at +3.2 (47th nationally).
ON THE HORIZON: With a win the Titans would secured a CCIW semifinals matchup with second-seeded Augustana Friday night, Feb. 28, at King Arena on the campus of North Central College. The game would tipoff at 5 p.m. and be followed by the other semifinal game between No. 1 North Central and the winner of the No. 4 Elmhurst/No. 5 Augustana quarterfinal game.
