ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana outscored Illinois Wesleyan 73-36 over the final 28:15 of the game Friday to post an 89-65 win in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament at Carver Center. Coach Grey Giovanine's 3rd-ranked squad (24-2) advances to Saturday's championship game against 21st-ranked North Central (21-5), a 94-87 winner over

Wheaton in Friday's first semifinal.
 
It was all Titans early as the visitors used hot shooting and aggressive work on the offensive glass to build a double-digit lead. A Matthew Leritz conventional three-point play at the 12:17 mark of the first half put IWU on top 22-10. Augustana pulled within eight (24-16) on a two Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) free throws, but Wesleyan's Brady Rose answered with a layup and a three-pointer to give the Titans their biggest advantage at 29-16 with 8:41 left in the half.
 
The lead was still 33-23 with 6:27 to play, but Benning and Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) hit consecutive three-pointers to trim the deficit to four. A pair of Austin Elledge (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) free throws got the Vikings to within two (35-33) and after a Rose layup, Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) drilled two treys in the final minute. The second, with three seconds left, put the hosts on top 39-37—their first lead of the night and one they took to the locker room at intermission.
 
Sparked by a pair of Benning blocked shots and three-pointers by Ebel and Elledge, Augustana scored the first 10 points out of halftime to complete a 16-0 run over a span of six-plus minutes. A Rose three-pointer and a Colin Bonnett bucket pulled the Titans to within seven at 49-42 with 15:42 to play, but a Benning putback, a Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) layup and an Ebel jumper pushed the margin back to 13 (55-42) and it wouldn't dip below double digits again.
 
A Simon three from the left corner and an Ebel jumper put Augustana on top 69-51 at the midway point of the second half and the spread reached 20 (80-60) on two Wofford free throws with four minutes left.
 
Giovanine took out his starters inside two minutes and emptied his bench in the final minute. A short jumper by freshman Luke Johnson (Longmont HS, Longmont, Colo.) with 21 seconds left accounted for the final.
 
Ebel scored a game-high 27 and grabbed five rebounds. Elledge tallied 12 off the bench and Wofford had 11 points and six boards. Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) had nine points and six rebounds and Benning finished with eight points, six boards, four blocked shots and two steals. Simon added eight points and Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) had a game-high eight assists. Rose led Wesleyan with 25 points.
 
Augustana shot .500 from the field (27-54) and three-point range (9-18) and hit 26 of 36 free throws (.722). The Vikings limited IWU to .355 (22-62) shooting from the floor, including .250 (7-28) in the second half. The Titans were six of 20 (.300) from beyond the arc and 15-22 (.682) from the foul line. Augustana controlled the glass by a 44-31 margin and each team committed 13 turnovers.
 
The Vikings and North Central are scheduled to square off at Carver at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, February 23 with the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line. The Cardinals handed Augustana its only league loss in Naperville, Illinois on January 31.