By Nick McClintock

ORLANDO- The Illinois Wesleyan Titans had runs of 21-0 and 18-0 in the first half, and eventually cruised to a 67-50 win over Mississippi College at the Division III Basketball Classic in Orlando, Florida on Friday Night.

The Titans’ great start led them to a 21-0 lead with Mississippi College hitting its first points on a free throw with 9:20 left in the first half and its first field goal coming at the 8:09 mark.

Illinois Wesleyan was led by six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Andrew Ziemnik had four of them and finished the half with 14 points. Illinois Wesleyan held Mississippi College to just three field goals and went into the locker room with a dominating 44-9 lead.

Mississippi College came out a lot stronger in the second half, getting the deficit down to 27 with a 14-6 run to open the half. That run eventually ballooned to 27-8, but the Titans had a lot of room for error.

The Choctaws continued to chip away, but lead proved insurmountable as they could never break a 15-point deficit.

Leading in points for the Titans was Ziemnik with 17. Also in double figures was Pat Sodemann  with 13. Mississippi had two players in double figures, led by Turmonte Ragland with 12 and Kendre' Smith's 10.

The Titans are 7-2 and continue play in Orlando today against Hope College at 2 pm. You can listen on WJBC.com with Eric Stock on the play-by-play.