The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team secured its third Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational Championship with a 75-68 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday, November 15, at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois. The win keeps Illinois Wesleyan unbeaten at 2-0 for the season, while UW-Oshkosh drops to 2-1.
Sophomore Noah Cleveland was named the tournament's most valuable player after recording his second consecutive double-double, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Mason Funk also earned a spot on the all-tournament team by matching Cleveland’s 16 points. Sophomore Josh Fridman contributed 15 points and made all nine of his free throw attempts.
Senior Karlo Colak led Illinois Wesleyan in assists with six as the team held an advantage in total assists (15-11). The Titans also outscored UW-Oshkosh in points in the paint (40-20), though UW-Oshkosh led in points off turnovers (20-5), second-chance scoring (17-2), and bench scoring (28-17).
Illinois Wesleyan shot 44.4 percent from the field but struggled from three-point range, making just three of eighteen attempts. At the free throw line, they converted twenty-four of thirty-five opportunities. Defensively, Illinois Wesleyan limited UW-Oshkosh to a 28.4 percent shooting rate from the field and just over twenty-five percent from beyond the arc.
Key moments included a nine-point run sparked by Colak’s floater and several crucial free throws by Fridman late in the game that helped maintain their lead. Despite several pushes by UW-Oshkosh, Illinois Wesleyan managed to hold on for the win.
Illinois Wesleyan will next face the University of Chicago at home on Wednesday night, November 19. The game will feature Nick Roper, a former four-year letterwinner and two-time All-CCIW pick for IWU, returning as a graduate student for Chicago.
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