FAST START LIFTS TITANS IN 84-73 VICTORY
ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – Illinois Wesleyan bolted out of the gate with a 28-3 lead through the first 12:25 of the game and went on to record an 84-73 victory over Augustana in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action. The Titans got eight points from Keelan Amelianovich in the run but a total seven Wesleyan players scored with a free throw by Adam Dauksas making it 28-3 with 7:35 left in the first half. At halftime the lead was 45-20. Augustana made a run in the second half and with 7:15 to play a basket by Shaun Clements (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, IL) cut the margin to 12 (68-56). Amelianovich, who would finish with a game high 20 points, hit a pair of free throws and made a field goal to bump the lead back up to 18 (74-56) at 5:45. Besides Amelianovich with 20, Dauksas had 18 and Cory Jones scored 11. The Titans shot .568 (25-44) from the floor and were an impressive 9-12 from three point range. Jim Thomas (Wheaton North HS, Wheaton, IL) led Augustana with 18 points while Clements had 15 and became the 20th player in Viking history to go over the 1,000 point mark for his career. Jordan Watson (Galesburg HS, Galesburg, IL) and Travis Hoyt (Moline HS, Moline, IL) each had 10 points in a losing cause. Illinois Wesleyan moved to 16-6 overall and 10-2 in the CCIW while Augustana fell to 15-9 and 9-4.