THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team began its west coast trip with a tight, 58-52, loss to California Lutheran University Monday night, Dec. 18, at the Kingsmen Classic. The Titans dip to 7-4 on the season, while the Kingsmen upped their mark to 5-3 overall.

Illinois Wesleyan saw a balanced offensive output as five players finished with seven-or-more points, while junior Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS) was the lone Titan in double figures. Roper finished with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds, while senior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) added nine points, five rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. Senior Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) and sophomore Karlo Colak (Glencoe, Ill.-New Trier) tallied eight points apiece, while junior Marko Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) contributed seven points and six boards.

The Green and White finished with an advantage offensively, shooting 40.7 percent from the field (22-for-54) compared to CLU's 34.5 clip (20-for-58), but could not overcome 17 turnovers. The Kingsmen finished with six triples of 24 attempts, while IWU went just 5-for-24 from distance. The Titans also mustered just four trips to the free throw line, going 3-for-4, while CLU finished 12-for-17 at the stripe.

IWU held a 39-34 edge on the glass, which led to a 13-10 advantage in second chance points. The Green and White also held a 26-14 lead in points in the paint, but Cal Lutheran mounted an 18-3 lead in points off turnovers.

The Kingsmen had the upperhand early, but the Titans rode the backs of Anderson and Colak to hang within striking distance. After early buckets by Anderson, Colak hit a three-pointer to end a three-minute IWU scoring drought and pull the Green and White within one, 13-12, with less than 10 minutes to go.

Cal Lutheran answered with a 9-0 run to charge ahead 21-12, but Illinois Wesleyan battled its way back with a strong finish to the opening half. Sroka cracked the Kingsmen zone for a pair of assists to three-pointers by Colak and Yoder, before Roper closed the half with back-to-back buckets. After pulling down a contested rebound, Roper drove the length of the court and finished a floater to trim the deficit to one, 25-24. 

Holding for the last shot moments later, Yoder delivered a dime to a backdoor-cutting Roper for an easy two. The layup by the 6-foot-8 junior pushed IWU ahead, 26-25, at the break and capped a 9-0 Titan run that spanned the final 3:13 of the period.

Illinois Wesleyan boosted its lead to five early in the second half, but Cal Lutheran held a five-point, 48-43, advantage with 4:21 to go. A corner three from Roper and a floater by Yoder leveled the score at 48 all, but back-to-back three-pointers by the Kingsmen gave CLU a 54-48 edge with just under two minutes to play.

Out of a Ron Rose timeout, IWU found Sroka for his signature mid-range jumper from the baseline. Trailing 54-50 after the bucket, the Titans could not overcome turnovers and Cal Lutheran three-pointers in a 58-52 setback.

Illinois Wesleyan wraps up its west coast swing tomorrow, Dec. 19, against the University of Redlands. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.