BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball was defeated on the road Wednesday night, falling to the No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan Titans by a score of 82-52.

Evan Ambrose kicked off the game with a basket on the first possession of the contest. Illinois Wesleyan countered with a three and a made basket on consecutive possessions before Ambrose grabbed his sixth point of the game to give the Vikings a 6-5 lead. The Titans went out in front for good after that, scoring the game's next nine points to take an eight-point lead. A pair of free throws later in the half by Nicholas Giliberto cut the deficit down to four around the six-minute mark and Matt Hakins drew the Vikings within two on a jumper with 2:38 remaining. The Titans closed the half with a 6-2 spurt to lead 29-23 at the break.

The home team quickly moved its lead to double figures to begin the second. A four-point play by Tyler Knuth trimmed a 14-point gap back down to 10, but the Vikings never saw it dip into single digits the rest of the way. The Titans shot a blistering 69 percent from the field in the second half, while holding Augie to just 34 percent in the final 20 minutes.

Anthony Cooper led Augustana with 12 points off the bench, while Ambrose finished with 11. 

With the loss, the Vikings drop to 10-7 on the season and 3-5 in the CCIW. The team will remain on the road to battle Carthage on Saturday.