By Nick McClintock
BLOOMINGTON- It was the Illinois Wesleyan Titans owning their own tournament this weekend, as IWU handled the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 86-76 at the Shirk Center Sunday afternoon.
Early on in the game, it looked like it would be a shoot-out, with Wesleyan starting off 2-2 from the field and Rose-Hulman keeping pace and taking a small lead 7-5. The game would eventually go to a 9-9 tie before a Jaylen Beasley three pointer sparked a 9-0 run for the Titans. The Engineers were unable to keep pace throughout the run with a very fast paced Titan attack, primarily led by Trevor Seibring and Beasley.
Rose-Hulman was able to stop the bleeding temporarily, chipping the Titan lead down to five, at 27-22 near the six minute mark of the first half. Illinois Wesleyan kept the Engineers at bay for the rest of the half, and eventually hit a couple a late threes to go up by double digits at the break 40-29.
The second half began much the way the first did, with both teams basically going shot for shot without much change in the margin. Nearly five minutes into the half, the Titans took their lead only up two more points from 11 to 13 at 49-36.
The next few minutes saw the Titans again lengthen their advantage by as much as 15 before another small run by the Engineers dropped the lead to 11. Rose-Hulman would continue to be pesky in the contest, but the lead for IWU never dropped below six in the second half. That six point lead seemed strenuous at the 4:38 mark of the second half, but back to back threes by Beasley and Brady Rose put the game out of reach for the final time.
Bryce Dolan led the Titans, with 18 points. Beasley finished with 16. Rose, Seibring, and Andy Stempel joined in as Titans in double digits. The Engineers were led by Jimmy Miller, who had 21.
Nick McClintock can be reached at [email protected]
LISTEN TO HEAD COACH RON ROSE AFTER THE GAME HERE
