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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The third-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team kept its season alive with a thrilling 74-67 win over Carthage College in the quarterfinals of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Tuesday night, Feb. 25. The Titans, who led by as many as 15, saw four players reach double figures in the contest.
With the win, Illinois Wesleyan improved to 18-8 on the season and earned a semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed Augustana College Friday night, Feb. 28, at Gregory Arena on the campus of North Central College. Meanwhile, the loss marked the end of Carthage's season at 15-11 overall.
IWU saw its 15-point advantage trimmed to three following a turnover in the backcourt that led to a Carthage layup with 1:31 to play. Sophomore
Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) found fellow sophomore
Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) on a backdoor cut for an easy bucket to push Illinois Wesleyan's lead back to five, 70-65, with just over a minute to go.
After Kienan Baltimore sunk a jumper to pull the Red Men back within three, Leritz and
Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) combined to force a turnover. The steal was timely, as IWU locked in defensively to hold Carthage scoreless for the remainder of the game as Noe knocked down four free throws to put the final tally at 74-67 in favor of the Titans.
Leritz and Noe led Illinois Wesleyan with 18 points apiece, followed by junior
Doug Wallen (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central) with
14, and Lambesis with 13. Leritz also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, with Lambesis adding seven boards.
Noe and Lambesis tied for the team lead with three assists, and Wallen paced the Titans with three steals.
As a team IWU knocked down 10 three-pointers on 22 attempts, while going 29-for-58 from the floor overall and 6-for-8 at the charity stripe. Carthage finished 28-for-58 from the field and went just 5-for-24 from three-point range. The Red Men held a 33-31 edge on the glass and recorded seven steals to IWU's six. The Titans forced 13 turnovers, cashing them in for 14 points, and committed just 12 of their own.
Coming out of the half trailing by two, 34-32, Illinois Wesleyan evened the score on a Wallen jumper on its first trip down the floor to set the tone for the second period.
With IWU firing on all cylinders, junior
Colin Cheaney (Batavia, Ill.-Batavia) sunk a three to put the Titans on top, 58-45, and force a Carthage timeout with 10:35 to play. Senior
Alex O'Neill (Peoria, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) found Wallen for a layup the next time down the floor to give IWU its largest lead of the game, 60-45.
Carthage clawed its way back into the game with a 20-8 run to trim the Titans lead to three with 1:31 to play before free throws by Noe advanced IWU to the CCIW semifinals.
Illinois Wesleyan will look to advance to its first CCIW Tournament Championship game since 2015 when it squares off with second-seeded Augustana Friday night, Feb. 28. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Gregory Arena on the campus of North Central College.
