BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The No. 3 seeded Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team treks to Gregory Arena on the campus of North Central College Friday, Feb. 28, for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament semifinal showdown with second-seeded Augustana College. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
    IWU advanced to the semis with a 74-67 win over Carthage in the quarterfinals, Feb. 25. The Titans enter championship weekend with an 18-8 overall record. Coming off a first-round bye, Augie will return to action for the first time in nearly a week. The Vikings own an 18-7 record.
    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.

WHO SAYS STUFFING IS ONLY FOR THANKSGIVING: Sophomore Peter Lambesis has stuffed the stat sheet this season in a way Titan fans have not seen since Dylan Overstreet's time donning the Green and White. Lambesis, who averages 11.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest, has posted eight games with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal this season. It is the most by an IWU player since Overstreet recorded 11 such games during the 2014-15 campaign.

D3HOOPS TEAM OF THE WEEK PICK: Matthew Leritz became the first Titan to earn a spot on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week in recent memory. Leritz was outstanding for Illinois Wesleyan last week, Feb. 19-22, leading the Titans to two wins en route to securing the No. 3 seed in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament. For the week, he averaged 23.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.5 assists per game.

ALL-CCIW HONOREES: A trio of Titans reeled in All-CCIW honors when the conference announced its postseason awardwinners, Feb. 25. Luke Yoder was voted the league's Freshman of the Year, while Matthew Leritz and Peter Lambesis earned first team and second team honors, respectively.
    Yoder became the first Titan to be named the CCIW Freshman of the Year since the awards inception in 2013 after averaging 10.4 points per game. His scoring average was the best by a freshman in the league this season, while he was slotted second in free throw percentage (88.5).
    Leritz garnered First Team All-CCIW honors after averaging 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while working his way back from injury. The St. Louis, Mo. native posted four 20+ point efforts in 19 games.
    Lambesis earned a second-team selection for the first time in his career. Lambesis leads IWU with 67-of-85 free throws made, compiling a .729 FT percentage, 58 assists, and 34 steals.

WIN AND ADVANCE WON AND ADVANCED: Illinois Wesleyan advanced to Friday's semifinals with a thrilling 74-67 win over Carthage Tuesday night, Feb. 25. IWU led by as many as 15 in the game and saw four players hit double figures. Matthew Leritz and Cory Noe dropped 18 points apiece, while Doug Wallen added 14 points and Peter Lambesis contributed 13.

CCIW TOURNAMENT CLASH AGAINST AUGIE: Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana have met in the CCIW Tournament seven times since 2006, IWU's most against any league opponent during that span. The Titans are 1-6 against the Vikings in those meetings, with their lone win coming in the 2006 semifinals. The two squads also tangled in 2008, 2011, 2013 2015, 2016, and 2019, with three coming in the championship game (2008, 2001, 2015) and the four other coming in the semifinals (2006, 2013, 2016, 2019).

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 8-11 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 9-16 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.

AGAINST AUGIE ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana will square off on the hardwood for the 173rd time Friday, in a series that dates back to the 1914-15 season. IWU leads the all-time tally, 95-77, but Augie has won 11 of the last 14 meetings.
    The two squads split the regular season series, with the visiting team coming out victorious in each matchup. Illinois Wesleyan knocked of No. 23 Augustana in overtime, Dec. 15. Grant Wolfe scored 14 points and Charlie Bair added 13, as IWU outscored AC 13-6 in extra time to take walk away victorious, 74-67. Most recently, Augustana spoiled IWU's Senior Day with a 78-64 setback.

SCOUTING REPORT - AUGUSTANA: Winners of seven of its last eight games, Augustana enters the semifinals as the No. 2 seed with an 18-7 record. The Vikings closed out the regular season with wins over Carthage (83-81) and North Park (96-73) and will return to action for the first time in nearly a week.
    Pierson Wofford leads Augustana with 17.2 points per game, the third-best scoring average in the league, and 6.9 rebounds per contest. Austin Elledge (13.3 ppg) and Micah Martin (12.5 ppg) are also in double figures scoring for the Vikings. Elledge is the team's top three-point shooter with 38 triples on the season, while Martin adds 6.4 rebounds and a 55 blocks.
    Augustana enters the contest as one of the top defensive team in the conference, holding opponents to a league-low 41.4 field goal percentage. The Vikings are third in the league in scoring defense, as they give up 67.6 points per contest, and are second in the CCIW with 125 blocks. Offensively, Augustana is shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, 37.9 from three-point range, and 69.4 at the free throw line, while averaging 75.8 points per game.

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, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game over the past nine contests. He has also been efficient, converting 71-of-122 (58.2 percent) of his shot attempts over the stretch.

YEAR 111: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 1681-917 record in its history, good for a .649 winning percentage. Additionally, the Titans 1681 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 15.04 turnovers per game, the second-most in the league, and hold the league's second-best turnover margin at +3.1 (45th nationally).

ON THE HORIZON: With a win the Titans will advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship game for the first time since 2015 and the seventh time overall. There, IWU would face the winner of Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal between No. 1 North Central and No. 4 Elmhurst. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Gregory Arena on Saturday, Feb. 29.