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Wheaton, IL - January 04 - NCAA Basketball - #9 Illinois Wesleyan at Wheaton (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative)
Kodiak Creative
76
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20-5,12-4 CCIW
85
Winner Augustana (IL) AUGIE 16-9,9-7 CCIW
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
20-5,12-4 CCIW
76
Final
85
Augustana (IL) AUGIE
16-9,9-7 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 39 37 76
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 45 40 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Stumbles at Augie

Titans will be No. 2 seed in next week’s CCIW Tournament

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The No. 11 Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team faltered in its regular season finale Saturday, Feb. 22, as the Titans fell to Augustana College, 85-76, in the Carver Center. IWU concludes the regular season with a 20-5 overall record and 12-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin standing, while Augie advances to 16-9 overall and 9-7 in league play.

Illinois Wesleyan was led in scoring by its three primary ball handlers. Sophomore Jackson Niego (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) carried the load early with all 12 of his points coming in the first half, while freshman Josh Fridman (Northbrook, Ill.-Glenbard North) scored a team-high 16 points. Senior Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) finished with 15 points and a team-high five assists, with fellow senior Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) pacing the team with five rebounds alongside seven points.

The Titans converted 44.1 percent of its shot attempts, going 27-for-60, and hit 10-of-29 three-point tries. IWU saw Niego knock down four triples, while Fridman and Williams added two each. Augie finished 26-for-57 from the field, good for a 45.6 clip, and went just 6-for-21 from distance. The Vikings capitalized at the free throw line though, hitting 27-of-36 tries while the Titans went 12-for-20 at the stripe. 

Illinois Wesleyan collected a lead in points in the paint (24-20), but trailed in rebounds (39-32), second-chance scoring (10-8), points off turnovers (13-9), fastbreak scoring (10-1), and bench scoring (36-28).

Augustana came out red-hot but a three-pointer from Niego pulled IWU within a bucket, 12-10. The Vikings answered with a basket, their first points from a Viking other than Tyler Knuth, to kickoff a 12-2 run.

Trailing 24-12, senior Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS) converted a roll at the rim to end a five-minute scoring drought but Augustana came right back as the Vikings opened up a 17-point lead. Augie held a 35-17 advantage with 7:01 to play in the half, its largest lead of the day.

Niego came through with his third triple of the day, this time off sophomore Mason Funk's (Normal, Ill.-University High) assist, and found senior Trey Bazzell (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) for a three-ball the next time down the floor. 

The three-pointers continued to fall for the Green and White as Niego hit his fourth of the day. Bazzell later found Wilmsen on a kick out for a three-ball to pull IWU within single digits, 40-31, and force an Augie timeout with 3:39 left in the half. 

The Vikings pushed their lead back to double-digits with a free throw, but the Titans responded with a bucket by Wilmsen as Fridman found the big-man for a layup.

A pair of free throws from Fridman with 1:15 on the clock came ahead of an Augie turnover that was cashed in for a layup from junior Karlo Colak (Glencoe, Ill.-New Trier) with 43 ticks left.

The Vikings converted a driving layup, but Fridman finished off the half with a floater to cut the deficit to six, 45-39, at the break.

A low-wing three-pointer by Fridman pulled IWU within three, 49-46, before Bazzell's pull up kept the three-point separation with about 14 minutes to play.

Three was as close as the Titans would get though, as the Vikings carried a 63-56 advantage into an IWU timeout with 7:48 to play. 
 
IWU cut the deficit to six on Funk's spin move and finish as the Titans trailed 76-70 with 1:50 remaining, but the Green and White ran out of steam, 85-76.

Illinois Wesleyan, which earned a bye into the CCIW Tournament semifinals, will return to action Friday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. inside Carthage College's Tarble Arena. IWU will learn its opponent following Tuesday's quarterfinal games, while Carthage will play in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal game following IWU's tournament tilt.


 
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