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Harrison Wilmsen flexing
Kodiak Creative
76
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-2,0-0 CCIW
50
WashU WU 4-1,0-0 UAA
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-2,0-0 CCIW
76
Final
50
WashU WU
4-1,0-0 UAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 40 36 76
WashU WU 19 31 50

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Dominates No. 22 WashU

Titans host Chicago Saturday night, Nov. 25

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - A tenacious defensive effort and a balanced performance on the offensive end led the Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team to a convincing win at 22nd-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 22. The Titans upped their record to 3-2 with the 76-50 victory, while the Bears (4-1) dropped their first game of the year. 

Illinois Wesleyan was led by St. Louis natives Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) and Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS). Wilmsen went for a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Roper tallied 12 points with five rebounds. Senior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) added 15 points and team-highs of four steals and three assists.

Senior Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) led IWU with six rebounds to go along with nine points. 

As a team, the Titans dominated nearly every statistical category. IWU shot 48.4 percent from the floor, going 31-for-64, and 42.1 percent from three-point range. The Green and White defense stifled WashU, as the Bears shot 25.5 percent from the floor (14-for-55) and just 5-for-23 from beyond the arc. The Bears converted 17-of-25 free throws, with IWU cashing in on 6-of-8 attempts.

WashU edged out IWU on the glass, 34-33, but Illinois Wesleyan used nine steals to win the turnover battle, 14-11. Led by the muscle of Wilmsen inside, the Titans gained a 42-16 lead in points in the paint. 

Illinois Wesleyan used a 13-0 run over a four-minute span to take control and never looked back. Junior Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) fed Wilmsen for a layup to start the run and cut the WashU lead to one, 5-4. Sroka followed with an offensive putback before Yoder cashed in a steal for a bucket to push IWU ahead, 8-5, four minutes into the game. A jumper by Sroka and a crafty layup by Yoder forced a WashU timeout, but the Titans came right back with a three-ball to stretch the lead to double-digits, 15-5.

The Bears trimmed the lead to six, but three-pointers by Yoder and Roper kept the Titans in control. 

Illinois Wesleyan limited WashU to just two points over the final nine minutes of the first half, as the Green and White carried a 40-19 lead into the break. 

A tough layup with contact by Wilmsen stretched the IWU lead to its longest of the day, 58-28, with 12:25 to play. 

The Titans are back in action Saturday, Nov. 25, against the University of Chicago. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.

 
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