Men’s Hoops Suffers Setback at the Hands of the Vikings

Men’s Hoops Suffers Setback at the Hands of the Vikings | iwusports.com

By Press release submission

Feb 3, 2023

Men’s Hoops Suffers Setback at the Hands of the Vikings

After a two-game hiatus from league play, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team continued College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action by traveling to take on Augustana College, Saturday evening, Jan. 28 inside Carver PE Center. The Vikings led wire-to-wire as AC defeated IWU by a final score of 89-80. With the loss, the Green and White falls to 10-9 on the season (5-5 CCIW). On the flip side, Augie's record improves to 7-13 (5-6 CCIW) with the victory.

Senior Lucas Heflen (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) recorded a game-high 23 points, to go along with three steals and a pair of assists. Sophomore Hakim Williams (Round Lake, Ill.-Round Lake) tallied a career-best 17 points, while senior Cody Mitchell (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) and sophomore Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis Priory) each added 15.

IWU shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the floor, while AC connected on 54.4 percent (31-for-57) of its attempts. From beyond the arc, the Green and White shot 27.6 percent (8-for-29). On the other hand, Augustana took 21 long range tries and made nine (42.9 percent). Augie assembled a 81.8 percent mark from the charity stripe (18-for-22), while IWU shot 66.7 percent from the line (66.7 percent). The Green and White's bench outscored Augie's via a 21-15 advantage.

The Vikings wasted little time manufacturing a quick 7-0 lead within the first three minutes of action. A Heflen three-pointer ended the 7-0 run with 16:52 remaining in the opening half. Midway through the half, AC opened up a double-digit cushion, 21-11, as the clock stood at 10:16.

Augustana reached its largest lead, 18, late in the first. A Williams drive into the paint would warrant a foul call. Williams connected on one of his freebies as the score stood at 40-25 heading into the halftime intermission.

Out of the break, back-to-back buckets by Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, Ill.-Huntley) and Helfen cut the deficit to 12, at 40-22. An and-one driving layup by Williams made the score 41-31, in favor of the home team, with 18:40 remaining in the contest.

The Vikings proceeded to go on an eight point run to quickly race out to the commanding 49-31 lead via a mid-range jumper and back-to-back triples after a Titan miscue.

Trey Bazzell's (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) sharp shooting abilities tallied the sophomore six straight points, on back-to-back threes, as the score stood at 52-38 with 14:36 left.

On two straight offensive possessions, Wilmsen utilized a dunk and a hook shot to warrant a timeout from the Augustana sideline as AC's lead was cut to 58-44.

However, the timeout did little to slow down the Titan comeback attempt as a Heflen triple pushed IWU's run to 7-0, with the score 58-47.

A final Illinois Wesleyan push was not enough as the Vikings went on to win the contest by a final score of 89 to 80.

The Green and White will return home to the friendly confines of the Shirk Center for the program's next action. IWU will play host to Elmhurst University for a midweek clash, Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.