The 21st-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team battled tough with Division I Bradley University Wednesday night, Nov. 2, in exhibition action at the Carver Center. The Titans led by as many as six in the contest but ultimately fell to the Braves, 79-64.
The Green and White shot 44.4 percent from the floor on a rather balanced offensive effort. Senior Lucas Heflen (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) led the way with 12 points, followed by Harrison Wilmsen's (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis Priory) 10. Sophomore Nick Roper (St Louis, Mo.-MICDS) finished with six points and a team-best six boards. The Braves, who were picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference, shot 48.5 percent from the floor and 41.7 from three-point range.
The Titans held a 28-26 lead in bench points and an 18-16 edge in points off turnovers. The Braves led in points in the paint, 36-28, second chance points (15-13), and fastbreak points (14-8).
Sophomore Marko Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) scored the game's first points before junior Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) knocked down back-to-back buckets to push IWU ahead, 6-5, early on. A Wilmsen putback upped the lead to six, 11-5, but the Braves went on a big run to take control, 38-20, into the under four media timeout.
A pair of three-pointers by Pryce Punkay (Champaign, Ill.-Champaign Central) trimmed the deficit to 12, but Bradley carried a 40-28 advantage into the break.
The second half proved much tighter, as the Braves outscored the Titans, 39-36, over the final 20.
After back-to-back buckets from Sroka, the last of which came off a steal by freshman Nathan Boldt (Deer Park, Ill.-Barrington), Wilmsen knocked down a three. The triple from the big-man cut the Bradley advantage to nine, 48-39, into the first media timeout of the half.
Junior Evan Schneider (St Louis, Mo.-Ladue) brought the hefty Titan fan section to its feet with a dunk on a heady pass from sophomore Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake). The strong play brought IWU within seven, 48-41, with 15:30 remaining.
Bradley used a run midway through the period to regain control, 66-46, and despite a continuous battle from the Titans went on to take down IWU, 79-64.
Illinois Wesleyan will officially open the season as host of the second annual Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, Nov. 12-13, inside the Shirk Center.
Original source can be found here.
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