Fridman Fuels Men’s Hoops into CCIW Tournament Title Game

IWU boosts record to 21-5

2/28/2025 8:04:00 PM

Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. - Freshman Josh Fridman's (Northbrook, Ill.-Glenbard North) masterful performance powered the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team into the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship for the fourth time in the past six years. The Titans (21-5) downed fourth-seeded Augustana College, 70-65, avenging a loss to the Vikings (17-10) less than a week ago.
Fridman erupted for a career-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five made three-pointers. Senior Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) added 11 points and junior Karlo Colak (Glencoe, Ill.-New Trier) tallied nine. Senior Marko Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) led the Titans in rebounding with nine caroms, while recording three steals and five points.

The Titans converted 45.1 percent of their shot attempts, hitting 23-of-51 shots, while going 10-for-24 from beyond the arc. Fridman led the shooting from distance with five triples, while senior Trey Bazzell (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) knocked down two. IWU finished 14-for-25 at the free throw line, while Augie fared slightly better at 12-for-20. The Vikings were 22-for-55 from the field overall and 9-of-20 in three-point tries.

The Green and White won the rebounding battle, 35-34, and notched a program-record nine blocks in the game. Williams, sophomore Mason Funk (Normal, Ill.-University High), Colak, and junior Nathan Boldt (Deer Park, Ill.-Barrington) tallied two rejections apiece, while senior Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS) added one stuff. Illinois Wesleyan also held leads in points off turnovers (24-21), bench points (20-13), and points in the paint (26-14). Augie collected advantages in fastbreak scoring (12-4) and second-chance scoring (18-17).

Leading by two, 11-9, with just under 14 minutes to go in the opening half, Fridman converted a free throw to kick off a _ run by the Green and White. After a big-time block by Boldt, Williams found Bazzell for a three-pointer. Colak then hit a putback off sophomore Jackson Niego's (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) offensive rebound to put the Titans up double-digits, 19-9.

Boldt later found Fridman for a shot from beyond the arc and Williams turned a steal into buckets on back-to-back possessions to push the IWU lead to 26-11 at the under-eight media timeout.

Senior Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) upped the lead to 20 on a Boldt helper. The Titans stronghold remained intact into halftime as Fridman slipped a pass to Williams for a three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock.

With IWU 40-20 out of halftime, Augustana battled all the way back within four, 62-58, with less than three minutes to play. Fridman pushed the lead to five on a freebie, but a Viking three-pointer cut the Titan lead to two, 63-61.
After trading free throws, the Green and White found itself in a one-possession game with a 66-63 advantage with less than a minute remaining. Funk hit clutch free throws with 18 seconds to go and Anderson finished off the win with a bucket in transition to close out the 70-65 win.

Illinois Wesleyan advances to tomorrow's CCIW Tournament Championship game to face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 1 seed Carthage College and No. 6 seed North Central College. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

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