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MBB Regular Season Champions
65
North Central (IL) NCC 15-9,10-6 CCIW
78
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20-4,13-2 CCIW
North Central (IL) NCC
15-9,10-6 CCIW
65
Final
78
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
20-4,13-2 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
North Central (IL) NCC 29 36 65
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 41 37 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Rolls Past Cardinals to Clinch CCIW Regular Season Title

Titans earn No. 1 seed and will host next week’s CCIW Tournament

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball claimed the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship outright Wednesday night, Feb. 16, with a 78-65 win over North Central College. The Titans notched their 20th win of the season and boosted their league record to 13-2 with the victory.

Six players finished with eight-or-more points, led by senior Matthew Leritz's (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) near double-double. Leritz scored a game-high 17 points and tied junior Cody Mitchell (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) for the team lead with nine rebounds. Junior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) tallied 15 points and senior Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) added 13. Junior Lucas Heflen (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and sophomore Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) contributed eight points apiece.

IWU's offense converted 32-of-60 field goal attempts, good for a 53.3 clip, including a strong 10-for-23 showing from beyond the arc. Illinois Wesleyan's strong offensive production was fueled by 17 assists, led by senior Cory Noe's (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) season-high five dimes. Leritz added four, while Sroka dished out three.

North Central finished 22-for-57 from the field (38.6 percent) and also hit 10 triples, although the Cardinals needed 28 attempts to do so. NCC made the most of its trips to the free throw line, going 11-for-12, while IWU was 4-for-8 in FT attempts.

Illinois Wesleyan compiled leads in rebounding (37-28), steals (5-4), points in the paint (38-14), second chance points (10-7), and bench points (24-19). 

Noe and Yoder got the Titans rolling early with buckets from beyond the arc, while a pull-up jumper by Lambesis pushed IWU ahead, 10-2. The transition bucket forced a North Central timeout less than four minutes in.

The pause did little to cut into IWU's momentum as Heflen hit a three-pointer on a pass from Noe to give the Green and White a 12-point cushion, an advantage the Titans would take into halftime.

Entering the second half leading 41-29, Illinois Wesleyan showed no signs of slowing down. The Titans extended their lead to as many as 21 on a shifty pass from freshman Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) for a Sroka layup. 

North Central cut into the deficit, but IWU cruised to a 78-65 victory to clinch the CCIW Regular Season title. With the win, Illinois Wesleyan will host the semifinal and championship rounds of next week's conference tournament, Feb. 25-26. Before that however, the Titans will wrap up regular season play at Augustana College Saturday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.

 
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