Rose nets 100th win; IWU women earn share CCIW

Ron Rose is 100-60 in six seasons at Illinois Wesleyan. (Photo by B Corbin/WJBC)

KENOSHA, Wis. – The Illinois Wesleyan men withstood a furious second-half rally from the Carthage Redmen, who rallied from 16 down to within two, before the Titans held on for a 69-64 victory Saturday, the 100th in the six-year career for coach Ron Rose at IWU.

John Koschnitzky led four Titans in double figures with 14 points. His dunk in the final minute was a punctuation mark on a Titan victory after the Redmen had drawn to within 61-59.

IWU trailed by as many as nine in the first half before Andrew Ziemnik hit three three-point baskets in the final moments of the half, the last one gave the Titans a 33-31 lead at the break.

The win ensures the Titans a bid in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament on Feb. 25 as IWU improved to 8-4 in league play, 17-6 overall.

The win was the first at Tarble Arena for IWU since January 15, 2009 and marks the Titans’ first season sweep of Carthage since 2006 (the Titans’ Final Four season).

Click here to listen to the postgame interview with coach Rose.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

‘Drive for Five’

The Illinois Wesleyan women assured themselves at least a share of their fifth consecutive CCIW regular season title with a 57-53 win over the Lady Reds.

Olivia Lett overcame swarming defense to net a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half.

Click here to listen to the postgame interview with coach Mia Smith.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.