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Men's Hoops at Wheaton
71
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 8-8,5-4 CCIW
72
Winner Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 16-2,8-1 CCIW
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
8-8,5-4 CCIW
71
Final
72
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL
16-2,8-1 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 35 36 71
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 35 37 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Hoops Sees Heartbreaker at No. 8 Wheaton

Five players score in double figures

WHEATON, Ill. - Free throws with 0.4 seconds to go sunk the Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team's upset bid, 72-71 at No. 8 Wheaton College Saturday night, Jan. 21. Senior Cody Mitchell (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) scored what looked to be the game-winning bucket with six seconds to go, but a last-second foul call saw the Titans (8-8, 5-4 CCIW) fall short in a one-point affair.

Mitchell finished with team-highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Junior Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) added a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double of his own. Sophomore Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) added 12 points off the bench, while sophomore Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) and senior Lucas Heflen (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) added 10 points each. Williams also posted a game-high five assists. 

Illinois Wesleyan used a solid offensive night to keep pace with Wheaton's three-point shooting. The Titans finished 23-for-53 from the field, 43.4 percent, and connected on 3-of-8 three-point tries. IWU also finished 22-for-30 at the charity stripe. Wheaton used 10 three-pointers on 31 attempts (32.2 percent) to overcome an overall field goal percentage of 34.5 percent (19-for-55). The Thunder converted 24-of-33 free throw attempts, including two-of-three in the final second.

Illinois Wesleyan earned a 43-30 advantage in rebounding, leading to a 10-7 edge in second chance points and a 38-16 lead in points in the paint. The Titan bench outscored the Thunder, 14-5. Wheaton held an 18-6 lead in points off turnovers and won the miscue battle, 11-5.

In a back-and-forth battle, the game saw the score tied 15 times and the lead exchanged 18 times. IWU led by as many as eight in the game behind a strong start to the second period, while Wheaton's largest advantage was a six-point lead in the first half. 

Heflen's triple with 1:32 to go gave the Green and White a slim, 69-68, advantage. A pair of free throws saw a one-point lead flip to a one-point deficit, 70-69, with 16 seconds left on the clock.

Heflen took the ball up the court off the inbounds and fed Mitchell inside, who knocked a hook shot down to give IWU a 71-70 lead. 

Wheaton's Tyler Cruickshank took the ensuing inbounds and threw up a heave which led to three free throws. After missing the first, he hit the next two to give the Thunder a 72-71 lead with 0.4 seconds left. 

Heflen threw the inbounds pass the length of the court, but the Green and White were unable to get a shot off, falling short, 72-71.

The Titans head west for a pair of games in the Pacific Northwest, Jan. 23-24. IWU first takes on Linfield College Monday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. PT, before tangling with George Fox University, Jan. 24.


 
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