BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team hung right with Illinois Wesleyan University for 35 minutes, before stumbling in the final five minutes of action and falling to the Titans 87-75.
The first half featured eight lead changes and two ties with Illinois Wesleyan (11-3, 4-1 CCIW) building a 38-35 lead at the half. The difference in the half was three-point shooting. Elmhurst (9-4, 2-2 CCIW) missed all 11 of its three-point attempts in the half while IWU hit 7-of-13 shots from long distance.
The back-and-forth continued for much of the second half as the score was tied eight times while the lead changed hands six times. Elmhurst led by three at 69-66 with six minutes remaining after
Jake Rhode knocked down a three-pointer for Elmhurst. After a pair of IWU free throws,
Jeremy Ireland knocked down a short jumper to give Elmhurst a 71-68 lead with five minutes remaining.
Elmhurst went cold for the next four minutes as the Titans ripped 16 straight points to open up a 13-point lead with just 38 seconds remaining. Elmhurst cut the deficit back down 10 after a three-pointer from Ireland, but Brady Rose hit two free throws to seal the game for IWU.
Elmhurst shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the floor, including 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from three-point distance. Ireland led Elmhurst with 22 points and eight rebounds.
Justin Fox came off the bench to score 11 points while Rhode finished with 10 points and eight assists for Elmhurst.
Lavon Thomas added eight points while
Lance Gardner and
Pavlos Marakis scored seven points apiece.
IWU shot 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the floor, including a blistering 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from long distance. The TItans' duo of Rose and Colin Bonnett combined to score 61 points for the Titans. Rose pumped in a game-high 35 points, shooting 10-of-17 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from three-point distance. Rose hit 10-of-11 free throws in the victory. Bonnett shot 8-of-12 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from downtown to finish with 23 points. Jaylen Beasley totaled 10 points and seven rebounds for the Titans.
Elmhurst travels to North Park University on Wednesday, January 10.
