BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team was stunned in overtime Saturday night, Jan. 29, as the Titans were handed their first home loss of the season - an 81-75 defeat to Concordia University-Chicago. The second-ranked Titans are now 15-4 overall, while the Cougars climbed to 9-7.

Senior Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) led the Green and White with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and a team-high four assists. Junior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) added 15 points, senior Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) tallied 12, and senior Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) contributed 11 points. Sophomore Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) recorded eight points and a team-best seven rebounds off the bench. 

Rebounding and three-point shooting proved to be the demise for the Titans, as the Cougars hit 14 triples on 32 attempts (43.8 percent) and grabbed a 40-31 advantage on the glass. IWU dished out 16 assists to CUC's 14, but Concordia Chicago held the edge in steals (7-4) and blocks (4-3). 

Overall, the Titans went 29-for-62 from the floor, good for a 46.8 clip. Illinois Wesleyan was 9-for-20 from deep and 8-for-9 at the charity stripe. CUC finished 28-for-64 overall (43.8 percent) and went 11-for-14 at the free throw line.

The first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair, as neither team held a lead larger than six.
In the first 10 minutes of play, the story was the Cougars clean-up on the offensive glass. Concordia gathered seven offensive boards in the first 10 minutes, which converted to 13 second-chance points. 

To close out the first 20 minutes, the Titans went on a 7-2 run in the final three minutes of the first half, thanks to a Lambesis lay-up and three pointer with 1:30 on the clock. Yoder closed out the first half with a jumper to give the Titans a 39-33 lead, their largest of the game, going into halftime. 

The second half was much like the first half in that neither team could establish a lead larger than six. With 13 minutes remaining, IWU garnered a three-point lead before Concordia went on a 9-2 run to take a four-point advantage and force an IWU timeout with just under 10 minutes to play. 

A three and baseline jumper from Lambesis on back-to-back possessions gave the Titans a 64-60 lead with four minutes left to play. Concordia took the lead back on an and-one with 43 seconds left, giving the Cougars a two point lead. A bucket by Leritz with 20 seconds left to play tied the score up at 68. Things got interesting as Noe swiped the ball on CUC's ensuing possession, but a hard take to the bucket was denied and corralled by the Cougars to send the game to extra time.

The tight play carried into OT, where Leritz scored the first four points for the Titans before a three from Noe gave the Green and White a one point advantage with 1:30 left to play. The Cougars finished the game off on a 7-0 run, including a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the free throw line, to complete the upset of the No. 2 Titans.

The Titans stay home for their next contest and return to conference play against North Park on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.