Over the weekend of Nov. 11, IWU’s men’s basketball team hosted the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational. The team went 1-1 and took second place in the tournament.
IWU defeats Yeshiva 76-71
Wesleyan started their season off strong against Yeshiva. The Titans played a strong, fundamental game against the Maccabees. They committed only six fouls in the matchup which resulted in four free throws. Yeshiva went 0-4 at the line.
IWU had a great day at the charity stripe. Wesleyan went 15-17 on their free throws, shooting 88.2 percent in the game. They’re performance was boasted by going 10-10 in the second half, shooting well when it mattered.
Illinois Wesleyan also outscored Yeshiva 9-0 on fastbreak points, outpacing the Maccabees with ease.
The Titans didn’t have as much success from beyond the arc. The Green and White went 5-26 from three.
The big men made up for the poor outside shooting, though. The Titans outscored the Maccabees 36-24 in the paint. IWU’s bigs also earned 18 offensive rebounds to Yeshiva’s four. The rebounding effort was led by sophomore forward Harrison Wilmsen, junior guard Ryan Sroka and senior forward Cody Mitchell, who all had seven boards in the game.
Wilmsen and Sroka also led the Titans in scoring. Wilmsen went 9-13 from the field with 19 points. Sroka shot 6-12 and made four free throws, earning him 16 points in the win.
Titans fall to Pointers 71-67
Despite a solid effort from IWU, UW – Stevens Point was propelled by great three-point shooting to defeat the Titans. The Pointers went 11-24 from beyond the arc, scoring nearly half of their points off of threes.
Wesleyan played a very different game from Stevens Point. The Titans scored 42 of their 67 points in the paint. Senior guard Lucas Heflen and Harrison Wilmsen led the Green and White in scoring with 12 points a piece.
They were followed closely by sophomore guard Nick Roper and Ryan Sroka, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Titans look to bounce back at the Small College Basketball Champions Classic during the weekend of Nov. 18. IWU will face off against Nebraska Wesleyan and St. Joseph in South Dakota this weekend.