The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament championship for the first time in program history Friday night, March 12, with a 71-58 victory over top-seeded and third-ranked Wheaton College on the Thunder's home court. With the win, the No. 8-ranked Titans finish the season 8-1 overall, while the Thunder end with a 12-1 mark.
Five Titans finished in double figures, led by junior Matthew Leritz (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University HS) who finished the night with a team-high 17 points. He also led IWU with eight rebounds.
Junior Peter Lambesis (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-St. Viator) scored 16 points and added four rebounds and a team-high three steals, while junior Cory Noe (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) and seniors Doug Wallen (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central) and Charlie Bair (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard North) added 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
Sophomore Luke Yoder (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) registered five points and dished out seven assists.
As a team the Titans shot 49.1 percent from the floor, hitting just three triples. The Thunder finished 18-for-52 from the floor and 8-for-29 from three-point range. The Titan defense turned 16 Wheaton turnovers into 18 points. IWU dominated the paint, outscoring the Thunder 44-18, while also adding a 9-0 edge in fastbreak points.
The Titans controlled the momentum early, jolting ahead 15-4 over the first five minutes. IWU's run was fueled by lockdown defense as steals by Lambesis and Yoder led to easy buckets on the other end.
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| Photo for lllinois Wesleyan athletics by Dave Naprstek |
Illinois Wesleyan's offense cooled off though, as a five-minute long scoring drought allowed Wheaton to even the score at 15 all with 12:26 to go in the half.
IWU responded with a layup by Leritz and a three-ball by Bair to go up five, but the Thunder used a three-pointer by Gavin Hawkins with 1:32 to play to take its first lead of the game, 27-25.
After a pair of free throws by Wallen pulled IWU within one, Leritz drove to the rim to beat the buzzer and give the Titans a slim 28-27 advantage at the break.
In the second half, it was Wheaton who got off to a hot start but Illinois Wesleyan battled to even the score at 43 all with 13:21 to play.
A free throw put Wheaton up by one with 9:35 left to go, but Noe drove to the hoop for a tough two as the Titans reclaimed the lead, 45-44.
Illinois Wesleyan upped its lead to six, 54-48, as Yoder's inbound pass led to a jumper from Noe with 6:22 remaining.
The Thunder trimmed the Titan lead to as few as three, but IWU used a 12-3 run over the final three minutes to claim the conference championship convincingly, 71-58.