CHICAGO - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team held off North Park University for a 63-58 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory on the road Wednesday night, Jan. 19. The No. 3 Titans improved to 13-2 on the season and 6-1 in conference play, while the Vikings fell to 7-8 on the season and 3-5 in conference play.
A layup courtesy of senior Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half put the Titans up six, 18-12. However, the Vikings erased the Titans lead and tied it up 31-31 to go into halftime.
In a back and forth start to the second half, IWU found itself down by two with just over 11 minutes to go. Junior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) scored on back-to-back possessions, a three-pointer assisted by M
atthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University) and a steal and fastbreak layup to give the Titans' a three-point edge. Another fastbreak layup with nine minutes to go, this time courtesy of
Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley), capped a 9-0 run for the Titans and forced a Viking timeout.
IWU led for 34 out of 40 minutes, but the pesky Vikings never allowed the Titans to gain control of the game. The Green and White's largest lead of the game, 59-51, came with two minutes remaining. North Park attempted a comeback, as the Vikings pulled within three with 12 seconds to go before a pair of Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) free throws sealed the IWU win.
The Titans were 20-of-50 from the field and shot a .263 clip (5-of-19) from deep. The Vikings were 2-of-12 (.167) from three. Additionally, IWU was 18-of-25 from the free throw line, compared to the Vikings 8-of-13.
The Titans saw four players score in double digits. Noe, who played in his first game of 2022, went for 14 points, including 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Leritz stuffed the stat sheet with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, along with a team-high four assists and four blocks. Lambesis chipped in 10 points and five steals, and Cody Mitchell (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) added 10 points and eight boards.
The Titans' road trip continues north to Wisconsin this Saturday, Jan. 22 for an afternoon date with Carroll. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
