McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team, ranked No. 16, secured a 69-57 win against the University of Wisconsin-Stout on Saturday, November 16. This victory improves the Titans' record to 3-0 while UW-Stout falls to 0-4.

Nick Roper led the scoring for Illinois Wesleyan with 23 points, including 13 in the first half. Hakim Williams contributed nine points and a dunk, while Trey Bazzell and Marko Anderson each added eight points.

Mason Funk was notable for his nine rebounds, with Anderson following closely with seven. The Titans shot 54.2 percent in the first half but finished with an overall shooting percentage of 36.8 percent for the game. They were successful on four out of fifteen three-point attempts and made twenty-three out of thirty-four free throws.

Defensively, Illinois Wesleyan held UW-Stout to a field goal percentage of 26.2 percent and only three successful shots from beyond the arc out of twenty-four attempts. UW-Stout scored twenty points from free throws with a high success rate of ninety point nine percent.

Rebounding was nearly even between both teams, with UW-Stout having a slight edge at forty-six compared to Illinois Wesleyan's forty-five boards.

Williams started strong by making two free throws followed by Funk's three-pointer and Roper's dunk which gave IWU an early lead at nine to five.

A series of four consecutive free throws by Roper and Josh Fridman extended their lead to twenty-one ten before halftime ended with IWU ahead forty-twenty-seven.

In the second half, UW-Stout narrowed the gap before Funk's consecutive layups and Bazzell's three-pointer expanded IWU’s lead once more.

With less than three minutes remaining in playtime, UW-Stout attempted a comeback bringing them within ten points at sixty-seven fifty-seven until Jackson Niego sealed IWU’s win by adding two final points from free throws resulting in sixty-nine fifty-seven final scoreline

Illinois Wesleyan will next participate in Webster Gorlok Tournament scheduled on November twenty-second through twenty-third facing Westminster (Mo.) Friday evening then Webster Saturday afternoon