McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team, ranked No. 2, faced a setback with a 72-64 defeat against North Central College on Wednesday night in Naperville, Illinois. This loss ended their eight-game winning streak and brought their season record to 18-3, with a conference record of 10-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The victory improved North Central's standing to 12-9 overall and 5-7 in the league.

Freshman Josh Fridman from Northbrook, Illinois, and senior Harrison Wilmsen from St. Louis, Missouri, led the Titans by scoring 11 points each. Senior Marko Anderson contributed with ten points and six rebounds. Hakim Williams emerged as the top rebounder for Illinois Wesleyan with seven boards and also added eight points along with five assists.

Illinois Wesleyan had a shooting percentage of 47.9% from the field and made seven out of twenty attempts from three-point range. In contrast, North Central shot at a rate of 45.6%, hitting five out of fifteen three-pointers but capitalized on free throws by making fifteen out of seventeen attempts compared to IWU's eleven out of seventeen.

Despite leading in second-chance points (12-6) and bench scoring (21-12), Illinois Wesleyan was overshadowed by North Central's advantage in points off turnovers (18-9) and fastbreak scoring (8-3).

The Titans trailed by eleven at halftime but showed resilience in the second half. Nick Roper initiated a comeback with a layup followed by Fridman's three-pointer, reducing the deficit to six early after the break. A subsequent sequence saw Roper assisting Mason Funk for a basket followed by Williams' three-pointer that prompted an NCC timeout.

Fridman's successful free throws narrowed it down to one point after which Funk scored to give IWU a brief lead at 44-43 before North Central regained control with seven consecutive points. Although Wilmsen managed to break this run assisted by Williams and Karlo Colak hit a three-pointer narrowing it again to two points at 51-49, it wasn't enough.

With just over three minutes remaining tied at sixty after Fridman's three-pointer coupled with Williams' steal-and-score play, NCC responded decisively securing their lead ultimately finishing victorious at seventy-two-sixty-four.

Illinois Wesleyan is set to host Millikin University on Saturday February fifteenth following this game as part of doubleheader action alongside their women's team counterpart event.