McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team faced a setback as their seven-game winning streak came to an end. The Titans lost to Millikin University with a close score of 59-56 in the College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin match held on Wednesday night, January 31. This defeat brings the Titans' overall record to 14-6 and their conference play record to 10-2. Millikin secured its first win of the year, improving to 7-14 overall and 3-9 in league play.

The game saw the Titans trailing by eight points, 57-49, with less than a minute remaining. Junior Nick Roper from St. Louis was fouled during a putback attempt and successfully made two free throws, reducing the deficit to six points at 57-51. Junior Harrison Wilmsen also contributed by scoring two free throws, narrowing the gap further to four points with only 22 seconds left.

Junior Marko Anderson played a crucial role by securing a defensive rebound off a missed free throw from Millikin and quickly passing it to senior Luke Yoder. Yoder scored a jumper in the lane, was fouled, and completed an and-one with just 13 seconds remaining.

In the final moments, junior Trey Bazzell managed to disrupt Millikin's inbound pass. Yoder recovered the ball and passed it to Anderson, who attempted a shot that did not connect. Millikin sealed their victory with two more free throws as Illinois Wesleyan's last three-point attempt fell short.

Luke Yoder shared the game-high score with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, alongside seven rebounds and two assists. Sroka added ten points while Wilmsen recorded six points and eight rebounds.

The Titans struggled offensively, making only 19 out of 55 field goal attempts (34.5 percent) and just four out of their 28 three-point shots. However, they excelled at free throws, converting 14 out of 15 attempts. In contrast, Millikin had a field goal percentage of 36 percent (18-for-50), succeeded in four out of thirteen three-pointers, and made nineteen out of twenty-four free throw opportunities.

Illinois Wesleyan led in rebounding with a count of 40-32, translating into a significant advantage in second-chance points at 14-4. Millikin led fastbreak scoring at 19-7 while both teams were evenly matched in bench points (14 each) and points in the paint (26 each).

Looking ahead, Illinois Wesleyan will take a week-long break before hosting Elmhurst University on February 7 for another important CCIW contest scheduled for tipoff at 7 p.m.