BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team advanced to the final 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament with an 84-68 win over No. 5 ranked St. Norbert on Saturday, March 8, at the Shirk Center.

IWU improved to 25-4 and will be part of the final 16 field for the 17th time in the 23 times the school has qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament. On Friday at a site to be announced later, IWU will face Calvin (24-5), who was an 83-75 winner at No. 2-ranked Washington U. on Saturday.

The other two teams in the sectional pod will be Wheaton (Ill.) and Dickinson (from Carlisle, Pa.). Wheaton (21-8) was a convincing 68-40 winner over Penn State-Behrend while Dickinson (23-6) upset Wooster, 67-64.

For both halves, the Titans were able to hold on to control, posing a 10-point lead at the conclusion of the first half, 35-25. In the second, IWU led by as many as 20 points just over 13 minutes on the clock, helping secure the 16-point victory.

The Titans, who had five players finish in double figure scoring, forced 15 St. Norbert turnovers, scoring 15 points off them.

Illinois Wesleyan now has 25 wins and, in 105 years of men's basketball, only four Titan teams have won 25 or more games, the most being 29-2 in the national championship year of 1997. Others were in 1996 (28-3, third place nationally), 2006 (25-7, third place nationally) and 1977 (25-6).

The Titans are 20-game winners for the fifth year in a row and for the 24th time in school history (23 times in the last 49 seasons). This is the first time in school history for a stretch of five years with 20+ wins. Twice before have teams won 20+ in four straight years (1995-98 and 2003-06).

Illinois Wesleyan Statistics, Leaders
Field goal percentage- .508 (30-of-59)
3-point field goal percentage- .344 (11-of-32)
Free throw percentage- .813 (13-of-16)
Junior Jordan Nelson- 20 points
Junior Dylan Overstreet- 16 points, 5 assists
Sophomore Mike Marietti - 12 points, 6 rebounds
Junior Pat Sodemann - 12 points
Senior Victor Davis - 11 points, 7 rebounds

St. Norbert Statistics, Leaders
Field goal percentage- .417 (20-of-48)
3-point field goal percentage- .286 (4-of-14)
Free throw percentage- .828 (24-of-29)
Kam Cerroni- 19 points
Brandon Gries- 18 points, 8 rebounds