By Nick McClintock
CHICAGO- A consistent attack by the North Park was too much for the Illinois Wesleyan Titans Saturday night, as IWU fell in CCIW play to the Vikings, 82-70.
Although the beginning of the contest fit the storyline of late for the Titans, going back and forth, and North Park couldn’t get much breathing room for the first ten minutes of the game.
The Vikings, however did break the game open around the 12 minute mark, going on a 15-7 run, and going up by 10, 26-16 with 8:25 left till halftime. The rest of the half didn’t go the Titans way either, as the Vikings used a 51% field goal percentage in the first half to roll to a 18 point lead at the half.
Illinois Wesleyan showed some signs of life in the beginning of the second half, dropping the 21 point Viking lead, down to as little as 14 with 13:00 left in the game. North Park would hold the Titans at bay though, never letting the lead drop into single digits.
With the loss, IWU dropped it’s third consecutive contest, and fell to .500 on the year at 9-9. They also fell to 3-4 in CCIW play, and are in 5th place in the conference.
Trevor Seibring led the Titans in points with 16. Colin Bonnet and Joel Pennington joined Seibring as Titans in double figures.
IWU WOMENS TEAM WINS IN OT.
By IWU Sports Information
Trailing 63-59 with 12 seconds left in regulation, the Illinois Wesleyan women’s basketball team scored four straight points to force overtime before eventually pulling out a 72-71 victory at North Park.
Sophomore Rebekah Ehresman was fouled and made two free throws to send the game into overtime.
In the extra five-minute period, the Vikings and Titans traded buckets with neither team building more than a two point lead. A pair o free throws gave Illinois Wesleyan a 71-69 lead with just over a minute left in the game. North Park responded with an easy layup before Ehresman was fouled with six seconds remaining where she would make one of two free throws to win the game.
Ehresman finished with a career-high 28 points and pulled in six rebounds. Merritt had her first double-double of her collegiate career as the freshman poured in 15 points while adding a career-high 10 rebounds.
