Wednesday scoreboard: ISU men fall on half-court buzzer-beater, IWU men win while Titan women fall

Posted on January 2, 2019
Redbird Arena
Illinois State hosts women’s basketball Friday and Sunday as the Redbird men are home on Saturday afternoon. (Greg Halbleib/WJBC)

Wednesday’s scoreboard is sponsored by COUNTRY Financial Representative Eric Lapan

Men’s College Basketball–

Valparaiso 58, Illinois State 56
–Markus Golder banked in a half-court shot at the final buzzer to give the host Crusaders a Missouri Valley Conference-opening win. Illinois State (7-7, 0-1) led by as much as 12 points with six minutes remaining. Zack Copeland led the Redbirds with 21 points while Phil Fayne contributed 14. Ryan Fazekas paced Valpo (8-6, 1-0) with 14 points while Golder and Derrik Smits chipped in 10 points each. Illinois State hosts Evansville on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan 97, North Park 49
–The visiting Titans extended a 13-point halftime lead by outscoring the Vikings 53-19 in the second half. Jason Gregoire led IWU with 18 points followed by Matthew Leritz with 15, Colin Bonnett with 13 and Brady Rose with 11. North Park (4-9, 2-2 CCIW) was led by 15 points from Vegard Tangen and 10 points from Antonio Gardner. Illinois Wesleyan (8-5, 1-3) hosts North Central next Wednesday.

Women’s College Basketball–

Wheaton 56, Illinois Wesleyan 54
–IWU’s winning streak was snapped at nine games in the closely-contested affair at Shirk Center between College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin unbeatens. Maddie Merritt recorded 23 points for IWU (11-3, 4-1)  Kendall Sosa added 12 points and Riley Brovelli pulled down 10 rebounds. Wheaton (10-3, 4-0) was led by 16 points from Hannah Frazier and 14 points from Jordan Myroth as the Thunder led for more than 35 minutes. IWU travels to North Park next Wednesday.

Thursday’s schedule:

Men’s College Basketball–
Illinois at Indiana, 7 p.m.
Girls High School Basketball–
Central Catholic at Tolono Unity, 7 p.m.
U-High at Decatur Eisenhower, 7:30 p.m.

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