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2026 CCIW Men's Basketball Champions
75
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21-4,13-3 CCIW
56
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 10-15,5-11 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
21-4,13-3 CCIW
75
Final
56
Augustana (IL) AUGIE
10-15,5-11 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 34 41 75
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 27 29 56

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Hoops Claims CCIW Regular Season Championship Outright at Augie

IWU earns 34th title in program history, will host tournament

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team earned its 34th all-time College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season title Saturday, Feb. 21 with a 75-56 win over Augustana College. The Vikings dip to 10-15 and finish their season with a 5-11 CCIW mark. The Titans sit at 21-4 on the season and finish CCIW play 13-3, earning the No. 1 seed and hosting rights in next week's CCIW Tournament. 

Junior Mason Funk (Normal, Ill.-University High) torched the Vikings for a team-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting while posting a team-high five blocks. Funk added in eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists. Junior Casen Lawrence (St. Louis, Mo.-Westminster Christian Academy) joined him in double-figures as he hit four three-pointers on his way to 14 points. He also tied junior Jackson Niego (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) for the team lead with three steals. 

Illinois Wesleyan connected on 28-of-65 shots from the floor, good for a .431 clip, while hitting 11-of-29 three-point tires. The Titans made just nine trips to the free throw line and converted eight tries (88.9 percent). IWU collected leads in bench scoring (12-8), blocks (7-2), fastbreak points (10-7), points off turnovers (12-11), points in the paint (28-12), and second-chance scoring (20-11).

Back-to-back three-pointers by Neigo and Funk off assists by junior Brady Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) gave IWU an early edge, 6-3. 

Illinois Wesleyan used a 17-2 run spanning six minutes to fly ahead, 30-14. Niego hit senior Karlo Colak (Glencoe, Ill.-New Trier) for a layup before converting a layup of his own. Lawrence followed with a drive to the hoop to push IWU ahead by seven, 19-12, midway through the first half. 

After an Augie layup temporarily broke the streak, sophomore Connor Williams (Palos Park, Ill.-Stagg) found Lawrence for a triple. Funk drained a three-ball of his own to stretch things to double digits and senior Nathan Boldt (Deer Park, Ill.-Barrington) followed with a jumper. An and-one by Funk capped off the run and powered the Titans ahead, 30-14. 

The Vikings put up a bit of a fight, pulling back with seven, 34-27, at the break before piecing together one more comeback in the second half. 

Marieon Anderson knocked down a triple to pull the Vikings within four, 43-39, with 14:33 to play, but sophomore Anthony Kemp (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bradley Bourbonnais) kickstarted an eight-point Titan run. Connor Williams followed with a triple before Kemp assisted on a Colak three-ball to catapult the Green and White in front, 51-39. 

IWU maintained a double-digit lead from the point on with freshman Bradley Biedke (Elk Grove Village, Ill.-Conant) closing out the scoring with a tip-in to lift the Titans to a 75-56 victory. 

Illinois Wesleyan returns home for a semifinal matchup against an opponent to be determined by Tuesday's quarterfinal matchups. The Titans will play in the 7 p.m. game on Friday, Feb. 27.
 

 
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