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Men's Basketball celebrates win over No. 21 Elmhurst Feb. 7, 2024
Ashtin Elder
67
Elmhurst ELM 18-5,10-4 CCIW
79
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 15-7,11-2 CCIW
Elmhurst ELM
18-5,10-4 CCIW
67
Final
79
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
15-7,11-2 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Elmhurst ELM 29 38 67
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 33 46 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Buries Bluejays, Maintains Top Spot in League Standings

Roper leads with career-high 25 points

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team took down No. 21 Elmhurst University, 79-67, in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Wednesday night, Feb. 7, inside the Shirk Center. With the win, the Titans boosted their record to 15-7 overall and 11-2 in league play to remain atop the CCIW standings. Elmhurst dipped to 18-5 on the year and 10-4 in CCIW action.

Junior Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS) net a career-high and game-high 25 points, while adding eight rebounds. Joining him in double figures were juniors Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) and Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory). Williams tallied 14 points and narrowly missed a double-double as he tied junior Marko Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) for the team lead with nine rebounds, seven coming on the offensive end. Wilmsen scored 13 points with two assists, a pair of rebounds, and a steal. Senior Luke Yoder (Normal, Ill.-Central Catholic) stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists, and five boards, while junior Trey Bazzell (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) notched seven points and a career-high two blocks.

The Titans converted 28-of-68 of their shot attempts on the night, good for a 41.2 percent clip. IWU finished 7-for-19 from three-point range, aided by three triples from Roper, while IWU went 16-for-17 at the free throw line. The Bluejays held a field goal percentage of 37.7 on 26-of-69 shooting. Elmhurst matched IWU with seven made three-pointers, but needed 32 attempts as EU converted just 21.9 percent from beyond the arc. 

Illinois Wesleyan registered a 43-42 lead in rebounding, which led to an 18-12 lead in second chance scoring and a 32-28 edge in points in the paint. IWU also secured advantages in fastbreak scoring (11-7) and bench scoring (14-10). 

The Green and White called a timeout with 8:03 to play in the first half, staring down a 23-16 deficit. The regrouping session from IWU bench boss Ron Rose proved timely, as IWU rattled off a seven-point run to level the score at 23 all. Yoder tossed an assist up and over to Wilmsen to start the run, before Roper drilled a three and Bazzell hit a pull-up. 

Key plays from Anderson led to buckets from Roper before an and-one from Williams pushed IWU ahead, 33-27. Elmhurst scored once more to trim the Titan lead to four, 33-29, at halftime.

The Titans came out of the half strong, forcing a Bluejay timeout just over three minutes into the second period. Moments after a rejection from Williams on the defensive end, Yoder found senior Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) for a three-ball from the wing. 

Leading by eight after the EU timeout, a hook shot from Anderson stretched the IWU advantage to double digits, 46-36.

The Bluejays burned another timeout, this time with the Titans holding a 48-40 lead, but the pause did little to slow the Green and White. After a hard-nosed rebound from freshman Mason Funk (Normal, Ill.-University High), Yoder found Bazzell for a three-ball. Wilmsen followed with an and-one to extend the lead, before the 6-foot-10 center slipped an assist to a back-cutting Roper to give Illinois Wesleyan its largest lead of the night, 63-46.

The Green and White squashed the Bluejays comeback attempt en route to a 12-point victory.

Illinois Wesleyan embarks on a two-game road stint beginning Saturday, Feb. 10, at Carthage College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. inside the Tarble Center and will serve as the second leg of a doubleheader with the IWU women's basketball team.
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