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MBB | IWU vs Augustana
Kodiak Creative
78
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 8-7,3-3 CCIW
83
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 11-2,4-1 CCIW
Augustana (IL) AUGIE
8-7,3-3 CCIW
78
Final
83
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
11-2,4-1 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 37 41 78
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 42 41 83

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Edges Upset-Minded Augustana

Titans notch 11th win of season

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The third-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team prevailed against Augustana College Saturday, Jan. 15, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans edged the Vikings, 83-78, to move to 11-2 on the year and 4-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Augustana fell to 8-7, 3-3 in league games and saw its win streak snapped at three.

The Green and White saw a double-digit second-half lead trimmed to three on an Augie three-pointer with 20.6 seconds to play. Junior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) sank a pair of free throws with 17.7 seconds remaining, to lift the Titans to the win.

Senior Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) scored a team-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-for-5 from deep. Yoder tallied 15 points, senior Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) added 12, and freshman Nick Roper (Creve Coeur, Mo.-MICDS) recorded a career-high 11. 

Leritz and junior Cody Mitchell (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) tied for the team lead with seven rebounds each, while Lambesis dished out a team-high four assists. Junior Lucas Heflen (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and sophomore Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) notched two steals each.

The Titans were strong offensively, shooting 52.7 percent from the floor (29-for-55) and 10-for-20 from beyond the arc. IWU struggled a bit at the free throw line, shooting just 15-for-24 at the charity stripe. The Vikings went 29-for-66 (43.9 percent) on the day, including 13-for-30 from long range, and 7-for-8 at the charity stripe. 

Illinois Wesleyan held a 34-14 cushion in points in the paint, a 10-2 advantage in transition, and a 13-10 lead in second chance points. IWU also out-rebounded Augustana, 35-32, while both teams committed eight turnovers.

After playing through a few early ties, Roper hit a floater to put the Titans up, 16-14. The Green and White stretched the lead to eight on Sroka's triple, but three-pointers by the Vikings evened the score at 30 all.

Leritz knocked down a triple as part of a 5-0 IWU run, but once against AC battled back to knot things at 37-37. 

Illinois Wesleyan closed the opening period with five straight points, capped on a three-point from Roper, to take a 42-37 lead into halftime.

After scoring the first eight points of the half, IWU took a 15-point lead on a baseline drive and dunk from Roper with 15:28 left on the clock. 

The Green and White maintained a double-digit lead until a 5-0 run by the Vikings cut the Titan advantage in half, 75-70, with 2:43 left on Nate Ortiz's three-pointer. Augustana later pulled within a basket on its 13th triple of the game, but Yoder's free throws closed out the IWU victory.

Illinois Wesleyan returns to the court Monday, Jan. 17, for a matinee against Elmhurst University. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.

 
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