
By Austin Duncan
Bloomington- The Illinois Wesleyan dropped their season and home opener 88-86 to Benedictine University on a last second shot by Lucas Johnson.
This back and forth affair had nine lead changes and eight ties.
IWU inbounded the ball down three with under 30 seconds to play. The Titans found Joel Pennington in the corner hit a three to tie the game with 17 seconds to play.
After a time out, Benedictine drew up a play for John Dodson, who missed a three pointer with two seconds remaining, it was rebounded by Lucas Johnson who hit a shot as time expired.
The 0-1 Titans were led Pennington’s 21 points on 6-8 shooting. Alec Bausch had 15 points and added a team high seven rebounds. Trevor Seibring scored 14 points, shooting 8-10 from the free throw line.
The bright spot for the Titans was their free throw shooting ability. IWU was 30-33 from the free throw line, 90-percent.
Benedictine was paced by Michael Blaszczyk’s 23 points. Adam Reynolds and Lucas Johnson added 12 and 11 points respectively.
IWU returns to action Tuesday when they host Greenville College at 7 p.m. at the Shirk Center.
Hear postgame comments from head coach Ron Rose and Joel Pennington here.