Four of those five Benedictine (10-3) wins had come since the Eagles earned their first-ever national ranking from D3hoops.com during the week of Dec. 13.
Illinois Wesleyan (9-2) turned an 8-7 deficit lead into a 21-10 advantage in the early stages of the game. The visitors knocked down their first five 3-point attempts of the game in the run, with Adam Dauksas burying three and Keelan Amelianovich knocking down two in the first seven-plus minutes of the contest.
Benedictine clamped down on the defensive end after allowing that hot start, giving up only three points over the next nine-plus minutes while chipping away at its deficit. Down 24-17 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first stanza, the Eagles scored the next eight points to take a 25-24 lead with 3:29 left. Will Crawford scored the first six points of that run, while Zach Ramey gave the hosts their first lead of the game with his own bucket.
Illinois Wesleyan fought back to take a 33-30 lead with 1:30 left in the half, but Matt Harrison hit a trey 30 seconds later to knot the game. Dauksas, who had 17 first-half points, converted on a conventional three-point play seconds later, but Ramey found Tim Swanson for a trey to even the score at 36-36. Illinois Wesleyan held the ball for the final possession, and took a 39-36 lead into the locker room after Amelianovich buried a trey in front of the Benedictine bench right before the halftime buzzer.
Chris Jones scored the first five points of the second half for Illinois Wesleyan, staking it to a 44-36 lead two minutes into the second stznza. Two free throws from Zach Freeman with less than 14 minutes remaining left the Titans with a 50-43 lead.
Benedictine scored nine straight points in less than two minutes to forge ahead, 52-50. Ramey and Swanson each hit triples in that run, while Crawford gave the hosts their final lead of the game with a bucket with just less than 12 minutes remaining.
Five different players scored in a 16-2 Illinois Wesleyan run that put the visitors ahead for good. Amelianovich's bucket and free throw put the Titans ahead with less than 11 minutes left, and his lay-up closed the run more than five minutes later. Harrison got Benedictine to with seven (68-61) with a trey at the three-minute mark, but the hosts got no closer.
Crawford and Marcus Jackson each had 18 points to lead Benedictine, while Harrison finished with 11 and Ramey with 10. The Eagles had been a perfect 10-0 this season when at least three players scored in double figures. They also suffered their first loss of the year to an NCAA Division III foe; their previous losses were to Division I Loyola (Ill.) University and Eastern Illinois University.
Dauksas paced four starters in double figures for Illinois Wesleyan with his game- and season-high 26 points, while Amelianovich contributed 19. Freeman and Jones added 12 and 11, respectively, in the win. The Titans made 7-of-10 shots from 3-point range in the first half, and outscored the hosts by a 19-8 margin from the free throw line.
Benedictine returns to play on Wednesday, January 5, when it hosts Rockford College in its Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference opener.