Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Second-ranked Augustana couldn't overcome a cold shooting night Wednesday, falling 72-53 to Illinois Wesleyan at the Shirk Center. The Vikings dropped to 10-2 on the year and 2-1 in the CCIW, while the host Titans improved to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the league.
 
There were four lead changes and two ties in the first five minutes of the game, but when Colin Bonnett hit a free throw with 14:52 left in the first half, IWU had the lead for good at 10-9. A Danny Baker putback at the 12:39 mark completed an 11-0 Titan run which gave them a 19-9 advantage. Sophomore Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) finally scored to end an Augustana drought of nearly four and a half minutes.
 
Tyler Burdine's putback with two minutes left in the half gave Wesleyan its biggest lead of the period at 36-20. The Vikings cut it to 11 (36-25) on a Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) three-pointer with a minute left, but Brady Rose answered with a trey that gave the Titans a 39-25 lead at intermission.
 
Martin and Benning each finished the half with nine points on a combined eight of 11 from the field. However, the team's three leading scorers on the year—Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.), Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) and Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa)—combined to hit just two of 15 from the floor and didn't score a point in the final 15 minutes of the half.
 
Augustana trimmed the deficit to single digits twice early in the second half—first (41-33) on a Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) basket with 16:19 to play and again (43-35) on Orange's layup at the 15:10 mark. After Ron Rose called a 30-second timeout, his club rattled off nine straight points to go up 52-35 and the Vikings wouldn't get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
 
Augustana finished the night just 22 of 59 (.373) from the floor, including a two-for-18 (.111) performance from beyond the arc. The Vikings also converted just seven of 11 (.636) free throws and were outrebounded 44-36. Illinois Wesleyan shot .446 from the floor on 29 of 65 and hit seven of 21 (.333) three-point attempts and seven of 12 (.583) free throw tries. The Titans committed nine turnovers to eight for Augustana.
 
Martin led the Vikings with a career-high 19 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots in 24 minutes of action. Orange finished with 14 points and Benning added 11, along with a team-high six rebounds. Rose scored a game-high 26 for IWU.
 
The Vikings will look to rebound on Saturday, January 6, when Millikin visits Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.