2001-2002 News, Notes & Game Stories
Kasten, IWU send McCreery out as a winner
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- As a future law school student, Illinois Wesleyan senior Ryan McCreery was happy to accept poetic justice Saturday by making the first basket on Senior Night.
His 3-pointer hit nothing but net as he helped IWU win the final game of his career, 82-79, over arch rival Millikin with an overflow crowd of 2,950 watching at Shirk Center.
"I was feeling it," McCreery said. "We had that little ceremony before hand. I was feeling good in warm-ups. I came off a screen and knocked it down. I was hoping to set the tone."
The Big Blue was singing the blues after IWU junior Luke Kasten poured in a career-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 9-of-13 free throw accuracy. He also grabbed 12 rebounds when not getting a bloody chin patched up.
"We did a better job of getting the ball to Luke and he finished them," said first-year IWU coach Scott Trost. "It's been what we've wanted to do all year. In some games we did it better than others."
Besides ending a disappointing season on an up note, the triumph improved IWU's record to 12-13 overall and 6-8 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Millikin finished 8-17 and 3-11.
"I couldn't lose this last one at home," said McCreery, who finished with seven points in 28 minutes of action. "I left my heart out there. That's where it has been the past four years.
"It's kind of bitter-sweet knowing that it's all over, but I've had the best experience any Division III ballplayer could have."
Kasten finished his junior season with 1,372 career points to rank 11th in school history. His 510 rebounds rank 15th.
Junior Laban Cross, who had 13 points for the Titans, sank two 3-pointers to reach 100 career 3-pointers, ranking 11th on the IWU all-time list.
John Camardella added 11 points and eight rebounds for IWU, which posted a 43-39 rebound advantage.
A rebound basket by McCreery gave IWU a 52-43 lead with 15:55 left. His hoop helped the Titans win the battle for second-chance points, 15-14.
"I'm just really proud of Ryan," Trost said. "He hung in there."
A Camardella rebound basket with 3:40 left gave IWU breathing room at 77-69. Millikin nearly smoothered the Titans' clock-killing plans with a 10-5 run to end the game.
Millikin, which shot 44 percent from the field, was led by Kasten's Hillsboro High School teammate, Tim Tolle, who scored 18 points, double his average.
The Big Blue's Kin Yanders added 17 points, Jeff Love 13, Phil Schneider 12 and Charles Williams 10.
IWU built a 56-47 lead with 13:04 left, but Millikin inched back to within 62-60 with 7:53 showing. The Big Blue never took the lead the rest of the way, but never trailed by more than eight.
The first half produced three ties, the last at 26-26. A Chris Silagi 3-pointer sent IWU on a 15-7 run to the halftime buzzer where it enjoyed a 41-35 lead.
The Titans shot 50 percent from the field the first half and finished at 47.6 percent.
The Titans, picked second in a preseason coaches' poll, tied for fourth with Wheaton and North Park as they improved their all-time CCIW record at Shirk Center to 50-6.
This is the fifth time in 19 years of NCAA affiliation IWU won't be involved in post-season play.
The Titans' league record is their worst since the CCIW went to a 14-game schedule in 1992-93. This is the fourth time they finished below .500 in the CCIW since the league was founded in 1946-47.
Titans stumble in overtime
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
NAPERVILLE -- Wearing an expression suitable for a funeral, Illinois Wesleyan basketball star Luke Kasten said Wednesday night his team has not improved since the season's first practice.
IWU's 20-turnover performance during a 77-74 overtime loss to North Central in front of 750 at Gregory Arena made it hard to disagree.
"The first practice is probably the best we played all year," lamented Kasten, who overcame foul trouble to score a game-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds.
"We've had our ups and downs all year. The last two games we played well. I thought we were getting on a roll, but tonight we went back to the way we've been playing all year long."
With only Saturday's home game against Millikin remaining, IWU is guaranteed its first losing season since the 1988-89 squad went 12-14. The Titans are 11-13 overall and 5-8 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
North Central, which improved to 8-16 and 4-9, also won at IWU Jan. 30, 79-76, in overtime. This is the first Cardinals' sweep of the Titans since 1988-89.
"Nobody thought we could sweep them," said North Central junior Ricky Hildreth, a University High School graduate who posted team highs of 12 points and seven assists. "We just wanted it more. We did it for the (five) seniors."
IWU fell behind by 18 with 11:12 left, but then went to an up-tempo, pressing attack to tie it at 64 with 3:59 to go. After a Kasten basket with 2:33 left tied it at 66, no one scored again in regulation.
"Maybe we need to play up-tempo more and press," said IWU coach Scott Trost, searching for answers.
North Central opened overtime with back-to-back 3-pointers by Kevin Lambert and Hildreth.
"They hit two big 3s to start overtime, but I don't think we should have been in that position," said Trost, who watched North Central outscore IWU off turnovers, 29-14.
"We beat ourselves tonight," Kasten said.
A basket by Eric Starkey and a John Camardella 3-pointer pulled IWU within 73-71 with 2:15 left, but Nick Marsh answered with a 6-foot jump hook for North Central.
Kasten, who finished 10 of 12 at the line, sank a free throw with 1:31 left and Chris Silagi added an 18-foot jumper to cut the gap to 75-74 with 33 seconds left. Hildreth ended the scoring with two free throws with :22 to go.
"Ricky played great tonight," said North Central coach Benjy Taylor after the point guard made 4-of-6 from the field.
A potential game-tying 3-pointer by Silagi was blocked. Camardella sent the rebound back to him for another try that also missed as time expired.
"We just made plays down the stretch," said Taylor, whose team shot 35.9 percent from the field compared to IWU at 41.1 percent. "Our full-court press bothered them a little. They had to get into their offense further out."
Laban Cross kept IWU in the game the first half, scoring 13 of his 19 points as the Titans trailed at intermission, 39-31. Cross grabbed a team-high nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:27 left in overtime.
Camardella finished with 13 points, seven boards and three steals.
North Central got 12 points from Lambert, 11 from Bill Stang and 10 from Marsh. Mike Kulbeda grabbed nine rebounds as the Cardinals posted a 41-39 advantage on the boards.
"We have been getting hammered on the glass the last two games," said Trost, who saw his five-year record as a head coach fall to 62-62. "I wish I had answers."
Kasten thinks he has one.
"As hard as Coach is trying," he said, "we as a team just haven't bought on."
Augustana deep bench sinks IWU
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana College basketball team used its depth to swamp Illinois Wesleyan, 106-92, Saturday night in front of 1,250 at Carver Center.
The Vikings dominated the final three minutes of each half by a combined score of 26-7.
"We didn't execute down the stretch," said IWU coach Scott Trost, whose team trailed, 95-92, with 2:20 left. "The first half it was a matter of them outrebounding us."
Augustana outrebounded the Titans, 44-22, while posting the highest score of any IWU foe this season. Augie picked up an extra possessions thanks to a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
The contest included plenty of bright spots for IWU as Chris Silagi scored a career-high 28 while Luke Kasten and Laban Cross each tallied 21. Eric Starkey chipped in 11 as only six Titans scored compared to nine Vikings.
IWU fell to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while Augustana improved to 17-7 and 9-4. The Vikings won the first meeting this season, 85-77.
Augustana, which has now won four of the last five meetings with IWU, swept the season series for the first time since 1992-93. The Vikings improved their home record to 11-1 while IWU fell to 4-9 away from Shirk Center.
Drew Carstens led Augustana with 32 points, 19 of which came in the first half. He scored nine at the line giving him 120 free throws in CCIW play, leaving him six shy of the league record set by Elmhurst's Jim Peters in 1969-70.
"He's got a toughness about him that allows him to get to the free throw line," said Augustana coach Grey Giovanine.
"Part of our system is based on our depth. I do feel that became a factor in those late minutes. They have got some guys logging big minutes."
IWU made a 10-0 run to tie it at 58-58 with 16:26 left. Cross sparked the surge with five points. Seven lead changes and six ties followed over the next 11 minutes before Augie went ahead for good at 89-87 following a Mike Nee layup with 5:40 left.
"I thought we competed and hung in and made some shots," said Trost, whose team shot 48.4 percent from the field with 13-of-27 help from 3-point range. "We didn't make some plays the last two or three minutes."
Two 3-pointers by Cross and one each by Starkey and Silagi sparked IWU to a 12-6 lead. The Titans made six of their next eight shots to take a 27-15 advantage with 12:00 left in the half.
"A game like this, little things are what make the difference," said Silagi, who finished 9-of-20 from the field, 6-of-14 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 at the line.
"Augustana made some big shots and we didn't. They forced some turnovers at key times. Other than that, it was a draw."
An 18-6 run featuring eight points from Carstens pulled Augustana into a 33-33 tie with 7:15 to go before intermission. Kasten sank two free throws to give IWU its last lead of the half at 42-41.
The Vikings owned the final 3:00 of the first half as Carstens provided eight points during a 13-5 run to take a 54-47 halftime lead.
The first 20 minutes saw Augie shoot 54.3 percent from the field compared to IWU at 50 percent. The Vikings had a 24-9 rebound lead at halftime.
"That (rebounding) was probably the key to the game," said Silagi, whose team was led by John Camardella's five boards.
Shaun Clements paced Augie with nine rebounds. He had 14 points as did Brian Allured. Brad Novak added 18 points and Jim Thomas 12.
Carstens's 32 points came on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 free throw accuracy. Starkey drew the defensive assignment on Carstens.
"When you're playing somebody like Carstens, it's not Eric Starkey against Drew Carstens, it's the team against Carstens," Trost said. "He's a very, very talented kid."
Cross, Titans clip Wheaton
IWU nets 100th win at Shirk Center
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Poor Laban Cross can't catch a break.
The junior guard put on one of the most spectacular slump-ending exhibitions in Illinois Wesleyan basketball history Wednesday night, but none of his teammates were surprised.
They knew he was capable of scoring a career-high 32 points during an 85-74 triumph over Wheaton as a crowd of 1,500 enjoyed plenty of elbow room while IWU picked up its 100th win at Shirk Center.
"Laban has been capable of that his whole career so it was no surprise, but it was great to see," said IWU forward Seth Hubbard, who chipped in 15 points and four assists.
Luke Kasten added 18 points and eight rebounds as the Titans snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Wheaton fell to 14-8 and 4-7.
"They made a run in the first half and took the lead and then Laban pretty much took over," Hubbard said.
Cross came in averaging 10.2 points, but had only averaged 5.3 the previous nine games while his shooting percentage slid to .398.
The 6-foot-2 Dahlgren native almost surpassed his career high of 24 in the first half when he tallied 23 with the help of six 3-pointers, two shy of the IWU record for 3's in a game.
Cross finished 10 of 17 from the field, 6 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 of 7 at the line to go with two blocks, two assists and a team-high nine rebounds.
The only other Titans to have scored more at Shirk Center were Korey Coon (42) and Bryan Crabtree (40).
"I think I can play like this all the time, but it's just a matter of hitting some shots," Cross said. "It helps when you hit some shots in the beginning. I probably took some shots tonight I probably wouldn't have been taking if I hadn't been hitting."
Helping IWU improve to 100-8 since the Shirk Center opened in 1994-95 meant a lot, especially in a season of high hopes unfulfilled.
"That's a monkey off our back," Cross said. "We didn't want to wait until next year to get that 100th win. That's pretty special even though it didn't come when we wanted it to."
Cross and Wheaton's Kevin Blomstrom waged a one-on-one 3-point shooting war the game's first 16 minutes.
"That is the Laban Cross that I love to see," said IWU coach Scott Trost. "Hopefully he can finish the year strong and lead them into next year."
Blomstrom nailed four 3-pointers en route to 20 points as the Thunder took a 34-27 lead with 6:25 left in the first half.
A Kasten free throw sparked a 15-0 run, which ended with three consecutive 3-pointers, one by John Camardella and two by Cross to put IWU up 42-34.
Wheaton was still within five until a three-point play by Cross sparked an 18-3 run to send IWU out of reach at 70-50 with 9:25 left. The highlight of the flurry was a breakaway-stopping steal by Eric Starkey, who passed to Hubbard for a layup.
"We looked like the Titans of old tonight," Hubbard said. "We were distributing the ball well."
IWU's 50.8 percent field goal shooting reminded Trost of the fine line between a hard effort producing a victory and a hard effort going to waste.
"When we shoot the ball (well), we look a lot better," he said. "We did a better job of getting the ball inside. Our philosophy hasn't changed. We executed a little bit better."
IWU tied its season high for assists with 22 led by Chris Silagi's seven. The Titans had five assists in Saturday's loss at North Park.
"Part of that is finishing," Trost said. "We've made some passes (in losses), but not necessarily finished."
Blomstrom only scored one point the second half to finish with 21. Nate Collord added 19 for the Thunder and Adam Cibulka 10.
"They were hurting us on a curl (with Blomstrom) and we weren't defending that properly," Trost said. "We talked about how to defend that at halftime. We told Eric to stay chest-to-chest on him."
Defense was a sore subject for Wheaton coach Bill Harris.
"I didn't feel we played defense on anybody," he said. "There were seven straight games where they hadn't scored over 70. I realize they had to make shots, but we sure did make it easy for them."
Harris rated Blomstrom among the deficient.
"I sat him down (four minutes in each half) because his defense was so bad," Harris said.
IWU gets an answer, but not one it wanted
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
Trying harder does not fix wayward shooting.
The Titans shot 32.7 percent from the field while losing, 68-55, to a team they blew out, 102-68, a month ago.
The loss gave IWU a four-game losing streak for the first time since 1990-91. The Titans fell to 10-11 overall and 4-6 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. North Park improved to 10-10 and 5-4.
"We were in a slump and it's like the plague," said North Park coach Rees Johnson, after the 90th meeting with IWU made his team 26-64 in the series. "It's kind of what Illinois Wesleyan is going through -- the plague. The harder you try, the worse you get."
The virus spread to IWU's free throw shooting where it was 16 of 28 for 57.1 percent. This from a team shooting 71.7 percent at the line this season.
"If I had an answer, we would have won a couple games that we lost," said IWU junior John Camardella, who scored 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. "It's hard to explain."
IWU, picked in the preseason to finish second in the CCIW, was held under 60 points for the fifth time this season compared to just once last year. Luke Kasten led the Titans with 19 points and nine rebounds. Laban Cross added 11 points.
"The past two years we haven't had any trouble scoring," Camardella said. "We always had trouble defending people."
That defensive problem popped up repeatedly Saturday as North Park scored eight points on layups the second half en route to 47.1 percent field goal shooting.
Meanwhile, IWU was missing more than its share of layups.
"I think we're trying so hard to make something positive happen," said IWU coach Scott Trost, whose team shot under 41 percent for the third consecutive game.
North Park enjoyed a 33-20 lead at halftime after shooting 46.2 percent from the field the first 20 minutes. The Vikings shot 33.3 percent on their visit to Bloomington.
"They hit some tough shots," Trost said. "I thought we were there defending them. They got in a rhythm the first half. No matter what we did, it seemed they hit shots and we missed shots."
IWU unraveled the final three minutes of the first half as North Park made an 11-1 run featuring 3-pointers by Michael Lewis, Byron Pullen and Tyrone Hueston. The Vikings finished 8-of-17 from 3-point range.
Lamar Townsend, who sat out the Jan. 12 game, led North Park with 15 points. Jason Collins and Pullen added 10 apiece. The Vikings played without leading scorer Maurice Vaughn, who was suspended for violating a team rule.
"I think everybody else knew they had to get after it more," Johnson said.
The Titans first-half woes included 7-of-15 free throw inaccuracy and eight turnovers. Their six field goals required 22 attempts (27.3 percent).
"We're just not getting it done," Camardella said. "Concentration -- I don't know if it's there all the time or not. Everybody wants to win. I don't know. I wish I had answers."
IWU stepped out to leads of 11-6 and 16-12. A layup by Cross gave the Titans their final lead at 18-17 with 5:52 left in the half.
The Titans fell behind by as many as 16 in the second half before mounting a 10-0 run to pull within 57-52 with 4:14 left. But IWU missed its next four shots, two of which were blocked.
"I thought we picked up the pressure a little bit," Trost said. "We got back in it that way. We picked up the tempo. We started to play a little more free."
North Park snuffed out the threat by making 9 of 15 free throws the final 3:56.
"We're just having a hard time scoring points," Trost said.
Martin, Elmhurst sink Titans
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
ELMHURST -- Chris Martin's day began by reading a Pantagraph feature story about himself on the Internet.
The Elmhurst College freshman's night ended with him reading the riot act to Illinois Wesleyan's basketball team.
The Eureka native scored a season-high 30 points in a 71-61 Bluejay win in front of 1,300 at R.A. Faganel Hall.
"I felt good all day," said Martin, who was 11-of-18 from the field including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. In 18 previous games, he was 6-of-39 from long range. "I said to one of my teammates before the game I was really ready to play."
IWU fell to 10-10 overall and 4-5 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with its third straight loss while Elmhurst improved to 12-8 and 5-4. The Titans won a Jan. 5 meeting with Elmhurst, 80-70.
"They made it hard for us to score," said IWU coach Scott Trost after his first game back at the school he coached from 1992 to 1996.
"We didn't execute down the stretch. They started to pick up the pressure and I don't think we handled that very well. Our kids played hard and I'm proud of their effort."
The Titans took a 56-55 lead on a Luke Kasten basket with 9:05 left and then watched Elmhurst end the game with a 16-5 run. While crossing that patch of quicksand, IWU was 1-of-10 from the field, 0-of-3 at the line and committed three of its 14 turnovers.
"We knew it was down to defense and that is what Elmhurst is all about," said Martin, who scored the Bluejays' first seven points, 18 of their first 25 and 26 of their first 53.
"I talked to Chris' parents this week and I talked to Chris just to let him know I really had confidence in him," said Elmhurst coach Mark Scherer, a Roanoke-Benson High School and Eureka College product.
"I know as well as he's been playing, he's been struggling offensively. I saw him in high school and he was able to hit those shots. He said he'd like to play more minutes as long as he was able to play defense well enough."
Martin played all but three of the game's 40 minutes, collecting eight rebounds, three steals and one block.
"He got a quick start and we just left him out there," said Scherer, who also got 11 points from Wayne Bosworth.
Martin's previous high was 17 points in the first game against IWU.
"He's hard to guard and playing with a lot of confidence," Trost said.
At intermission, IWU led, 36-34, while shooting 45 percent from the field. The Titans cooled to 40 percent by the end while Elmhurst shot 48 percent.
"We felt pretty good when we came out in the second half," said IWU forward Eric Starkey, who scored 12 points on four 3-pointers to share team-high scoring honors with Kasten.
A Starkey 3-pointer gave IWU a 13-9 lead, but Martin ignited a 16-0 Elmhurst run with 11 points in a 2:45 span. The Titans regained the lead at 34-33 on a 3-pointer by Ryan McCreery, who scored nine points.
"No one else on their team was really doing much," said Starkey, who had five rebounds along with McCreery. "Martin was pretty much carrying their load."
After managing only seven assists Saturday against No. 1-ranked Carthage, IWU had 10 the first half Tuesday en route to 17 total. Chris Silagi had a team-high five assists.
"We did a lot of good things to get back in it," said Trost of a game featuring five ties and nine lead changes.
Elmhurst tried to deny IWU entry into the high post the second half.
"I thought the big difference was we were able to play defense without bailing them out with the foul," said Scherer, whose team committed 16 fouls compared to 28 Jan. 5.
IWU was still within 63-61 following a Starkey 3-pointer with 3:56 left. Martin slashed across the key to sink a drifting jump shot and Justin Carley made a layup to make it 67-61. Five 3-point prayers by IWU went unanswered the final 2:15.
Impressive Carthage tops Titans
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- There was a time when the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team looked like an NCAA Division III title contender.
That notion continued to speed into the past Saturday night as the Titans got a look at a serious national title threat when No. 1-ranked Carthage handed them a 76-56 loss at Shirk Center.
"Carthage is by far the best team in the nation," said IWU forward Luke Kasten. "They have so many weapons coming at you that you can't just focus on one guy."
The loss dropped IWU to 10-9 overall, 4-4 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and 99-8 all-time at Shirk Center where the biggest crowd of the season (2,940) gathered.
Carthage, which had lost on its last 12 visits to Bloomington since 1989, improved to 18-1 and 7-1.
"They've got three first-team all-conference players on that team," said IWU coach Scott Trost referring to Jason Wiertel, Antoine McDaniel and Rob Garnes. "They has some players who made some really good plays."
McDaniel scored 21 points, Wiertel 18 and Garnes 11. Bart Fabian backed them up with 13.
"I thought we really played well," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic, whose team also won a Jan. 19 meeting with IWU, 72-49. "The fear tonight was they would get off to a great start and get the crowd energized and hit the 3s they are capable of making, but haven't been making lately.
"I knew if we could match their start, our confidence level right now is a little better than their confidence level. What we've got is a good balance of an inside game and an outside game."
The contest began its lopsided trend four minutes in when Fabian sank a 3-pointer, was fouled by Chris Silagi and sank the free throw to put Carthage up 10-6.
That was one of seven first-half possessions in which the Redmen scored more than two points. They had three more such trips the second half.
"We had to stop offensive rebounds," said Trost, whose team was outrebounded, 39-28. "We had to stop transition and get out on Fabian, who can shoot. We do that and we foul him."
Fabian's four-point play was followed by McDaniel, who was fouled on a 3-point attempt and sank three free throws to make it 13-6.
IWU fell behind by as many as 18 with 2:52 left in the first half. The Titans trailed at intermission, 46-30, after shooting 32 percent from the field compared to Carthage's 56 percent.
"The first half they did whatever they wanted offensively," said IWU captain Ryan McCreery. "Fouling on the 3-point shot is quite unusual especially on consecutive possessions."
A dunk by Garnes and a 3-pointer by Fabian sparked Carthage to an 11-6 run to open the second half.
When the deficit reached 63-41, IWU came alive with a 8-0 surge which included a rebound basket and a 3-pointer by Eric Starkey sandwiched around a Silagi 3-pointer.
Carthage extinguished the fire with six unanswered points beginning with a put-back by Theo Powell.
IWU shot 35.3 percent from the field for the game and was outscored in the paint, 32-18, and outscored off turnovers, 14-9.
"They are very physical," Trost said. "They bump you. They chuck you coming across the lane. They do a really good job."
Seth Hubbard did the best job scoring for IWU, tallying 12 points. Kasten added 10 to go with a team-high six rebounds.
"It's embarrassing to get beat on your home court," Kasten said. "There were a lot of hustle plays we didn't get at."
Carthage shooters cooled to 48.1 percent by the final buzzer.
"We're in pretty good shape (in the league race)," said Djurickovic, whose team plays four of its final six games at home.
N. Central stuns IWU at Shirk
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- What was supposed to be Illinois Wesleyan's 100th basketball victory at Shirk Center Wednesday night became North Central's first.
A shell-shocked crowd of 1,700 joined 15 stunned Titans in watching North Central rally for a 79-76 overtime victory.
The Cardinals, in last place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, hadn't won in seven previous visits to Shirk Center. It was their first win in Bloomington since 1990 and just their 10th since 1921.
The Titans' league championship hopes took a major hit as they fell to 4-3 in the CCIW, 10-8 overall and 99-7 all-time at Shirk. North Central improved to 6-13 and 2-6.
"I'm at a loss for words," said IWU guard Shawn McGuire, who scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Mike Kulbeda took the air out of the building for Titan fans when his 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left forced overtime after North Central had trailed for all but 2:43 of regulation.
"We've never run that play before," said first-year North Central coach Benjy Taylor. "I knew it would catch them by surprise because they hadn't seen it.
"We're usually in 90 percent of our games. Tonight we just made a few more plays down the stretch. They are an awfully good team. They missed some very big free throws."
McGuire nearly saved the day with a 15-foot basket at the buzzer that was waved off prior to overtime.
North Central's first two baskets in overtime came on layups by Vince Perillo and Bill Stang.
McGuire's baseline drive tied it at 76 with 1:32 left, but North Central inched away by making 3 of 6 free throws the final 58 seconds while IWU missed two shots and committed the last of its 19 turnovers.
North Central scored 25 points off turnovers and outscored IWU in second-chance points, 16-6.
"It's a disappointing loss," said IWU coach Scott Trost, who took the blame for his team not being ready to play and not executing.
IWU missed three free throws in overtime to finish 17 of 26 at the line. It also was outrebounded, 38-34, including 23-16 after halftime. North Central collected 16 offensive rebounds compared to 10 for IWU.
"They killed us on the glass," Trost said. "That is a toughness stat."
The Titans had a 70-64 lead following a basket by Luke Kasten at the 2:11 mark of regulation. He finished with 25 points before fouling out with :58.3 left in overtime.
North Central made a 5-0 run as Eric Starkey and Seth Hubbard committed back-to-back turnovers. Two free throws by Chris Silagi with :23.5 left put IWU up 72-69 before Kulbeda came off a back screen to tie it.
"We made some bad decisions and I've got to be more explicit defining roles," Trost said. "We dribbled off our foot. We threw the ball out of bounds. We didn't attack their pressure very well."
University High School graduate Ricky Hildreth, who had five points, one assist and one steal in 27 minutes for North Central said, "We've been saying we've got to play as a team all year long and we finally did it today.
"In overtime we kind of looked at the guys' faces and knew we had this one. We just had to believe. We finally came through."
IWU had a 38-29 lead late in the first half when Kasten was called for his second technical foul of the season following a scuffle on the floor during which Kulbeda rolled on top of Kasten's head, causing a cut on his chin which required four stitches.
The altercation gave Kulbeda four free throw attempts with 6.4 seconds left and he made three to pull his team within 38-32 at intermission.
"Our defense was there in the first half. It was a lack of executing on offense," McGuire said. "We didn't worry too much about that. We thought it would come the second half."
The gap hovered around 10 points most of the second half.
"We just never put them away," McGuire said. "The last two minutes they made a run. You have to give them credit for capitalizing on our turnovers."
"It seemed like we were going to pull away at some point," said IWU guard Laban Cross. "We thought the Shirk Center would pull us through. Defensively we didn't put the pressure on them like we needed to the second half."
Silagi finished with 13 points for IWU and Hubbard added 10 to go with a team-high four assists.
Kulbeda led North Central with 22 points. Stang added 21 points and eight rebounds while Nick Marsh had 13 points.
North Central shot 38.8 percent from the field while IWU shot 53.8.
Titans trip up Wheaton
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
WHEATON -- Expressions and body language can say a lot and Chris Silagi's were positively shouting Saturday night.
Silagi's Illinois Wesleyan basketball team was tied with No. 21-nationally ranked Wheaton with 52 seconds on the clock at King Arena.
"He wanted the ball," said IWU coach Scott Trost after Silagi swished a 17-foot, baseline jump shot that sent the Titans on their way to a 60-55 triumph. "That says a lot about the kid's guts. He wants the ball in tough situations."
The outcome lifted IWU to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin as a crowd of 2,150 screamed. Wheaton dipped to 11-5 and 1-4.
"It was a hard-fought game," said Trost while standing next to a court which had been littered with bodies most of the night.
"Our kids hung in and found a way to win against a tough, scrappy team."
Luke Kasten, who scored six points the first half, led IWU with 15, jumping from 26th to 24th on the school career scoring list to reach 1,210. Kasten, a 76 percent free throw shooter, was 1 of 8 from the line before fouling out with 1:19 left.
"They front the post and really try to push you off the block," Kasten said. "It was definitely one of the most physical teams I have played this year."
"We had a bad first half to overcome," said Wheaton coach Bill Harris, whose team finished with 20 turnovers, including five on charges or offensive fouls. "Silagi hit the big shot. We didn't execute down the stretch."
Silagi, who finished with 12 points, said, "There were eight seconds on the shot clock. I knew we had to get a shot up. I dribbled in and pulled up and luckily knocked it down."
IWU's Seth Hubbard executed a well-timed block of Will Landry's shot with 26 seconds left and Shawn McGuire was fouled. His two free throws with :24.7 left created a 59-55 cushion. Eric Starkey ended the scoring with a free throw 12 seconds later.
"Shawn is a clutch free throw shooter," said Trost after McGuire scored a season-high 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. "In free throw drills, he is the first guy our kids pick to go to the line."
Kevin Blomstrom, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, paced Wheaton with 20 points. He had 14 the first half as the Thunder shot 45.5 percent from the field, the same as IWU.
IWU finished at 42.9 percent compared to 38.3 for Wheaton, which gained a 41-32 rebound advantage. Starkey paced IWU with seven rebounds. He had three assists as did Silagi, McGuire and John Camardella.
"I thought we made them work for their shots," Trost said. "It was a war."
Wheaton went 6:09 without scoring in the first half, but still only trailed, 13-9. After a rebound basket by Blomstrom at the 7:18 mark, IWU went on an 14-4 run featuring two assists by Camardella and one each from Starkey and Kasten to go up 27-15.
IWU was ready to take a 10-point lead into the lockerroom at halftime when Wheaton's Jon Nielsen threw in a 52-foot shot at the buzzer to pull the Thunder within, 33-26.
"I told the guys, 'let's run that one again,'" Harris said.
Wheaton made a 14-9 run to pull within 41-40 with 12:07 left. It took its first lead at 44-42 with 9:00 to go.
The Titans responded with a 8-2 surge which included two baskets by Kasten, two free throws by Camardella and a Silagi layup. Silagi sank a 3-pointer with 3:53 left to put IWU up 55-52.
"This is a huge win," he said. "Now we've got a couple games at home and we always play well at home."
IWU had a chance to go up 57-52 on a Kasten basket underneath at the 1:54 mark, but it was waved off by the official at halfcourt who saw a charge.
"No comment," smiled Trost.
Buzzer beater misses; IWU escapes Millikin
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
DECATUR -- Illinois Wesleyan basketball coach Scott Trost thought the last shot of Wednesday's game against Millikin looked good.
Big Blue coach Tim Littrell thought it was as good of a shot as his team was going to get with two seconds left.
Fortunately for the Titans, Trey Evans' 3-pointer over double coverage missed its mark and IWU escaped with a thrilling 63-61 triumph in front of 2,000 at Griswold Center Gymnasium.
"I thought he had a pretty good look," said Trost, whose team improved to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
"I thought we had the right player shooting it and the right type of shot," said Littrell, whose squad dropped to 7-9 and 2-3. "You just hope the game never gets to that point and we allowed it to get to that point."
Luke Kasten scored 14 of his game-high 22 points the first half as IWU took a 40-27 halftime lead. The Big Blue shot itself in the foot with 23.7 percent field goal shooting the first 20 minutes while the Titans sizzled at 53.3 percent.
"We're not good enough to play with anybody shooting 23 percent," said Littrell, whose team also sabotaged itself with 11-of-19 free throw shooting. "We were not crisp offensively."
That changed the second half after a Kasten 3-pointer gave IWU its biggest lead at 45-29 with 18:39 left. Millikin went on a 25-12 run to pull within 57-54 with 7:02 to go.
"We keep having those letdowns," said Kasten, who grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. "Luckily they had a poor shooting night. It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done."
Millikin finished at 32.8 percent from the field while IWU cooled to 44.7.
"We played well for 25 or 30 minutes," said Trost after his team's second road win not on a neutral court. "We can't have mental lapses on the road. We played a real solid first half."
That half saw IWU take only three 3-pointers.
"That's got to be our mantra the rest of the season: get the ball inside," said Trost, whose team finished 2-of-8 from long range, setting a season-low for makes and attempts. IWU came in averaging 22 3-point attempts per game.
A Kasten three-point play with 3:51 left gave IWU a 62-55 advantage. Jeff Love, who led Millikin with 18 points, sparked a 6-0 surge with a 3-pointer. A free throw by Phil Schneider and a layup by Charles Williams off a steal brought the Big Blue within 62-61 with 1:23 showing.
"They had a never-say-die attitude tonight," said IWU center Seth Hubbard. "That's the way they always play against us. It's their Super Bowl. Whenever they play us, they pack the place. We have to make sure we match their intensity."
IWU's Eric Starkey ended the scoring with a free throw at the 1:02 mark. Williams missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. Tension remained high after IWU's Jim Lehan missed two free throws with :25 left.
Millikin failed to get a shot off on its next possession, but smartly called time in a loose ball situation with two seconds to go. That gave one last chance to Evans, who finished with eight points.
IWU got 10 points apiece from Chris Silagi and Hubbard as did Millikin from Kin Yanders and Williams. Schneider added 12 points and Yanders grabbed 10 rebounds as his team was outrebounded, 39-36.
Trost altered his starting lineup with Shawn McGuire in place of Laban Cross and John Camardella in place of Ryan McCreery. Camardella provided three blocks and five rebounds.
"I think we needed a little bit of a spark," Trost said. "It wasn't anything against anybody."
IWU got a spark from Lehan, who had seven points and two assists in 21 minutes.
"I thought Jimmy played fabulous," said Trost, whose team visits Wheaton at 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Cold-shooting Titans succumb to No. 2 Carthage
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
KENOSHA, Wis. -- In the course of becoming the second winningest basketball team in NCAA Division III history, Illinois Wesleyan built a reputation for accurate shooting.
That reputation was not supported by the wayward display put on during a 72-49 loss to Carthage Saturday night.
The Titans limped to a season-worst 28.8 percent shooting effort that included a hard-to-watch 17.4 percent rate (4 of 23) the second half.
"If we don't shoot the ball ... we don't look very good," said frustrated IWU coach Scott Trost. "When we shoot 20-some percent, we are not going to win many games. I know we're better shooters than that.
"Illinois Wesleyan always has had good offensive players and you try to give them a little bit of freedom to create. You don't want to take their individualism away from them, but when we shoot 17 percent, we're not winning games."
Carthage, ranked No. 2 nationally by D3hoops.com, had been winning by an average of 14.1 points per game. IWU lost here a year ago by 20.
IWU fell to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in front of 2,340 at the Carthage Physical Education Center.
Carthage moved to 14-1 and 3-1 while also improving to 17-73 in the series. The Redmen upped their home record over the past three seasons to 33-4.
All-American Jason Wiertel scored 18 of his game-high 26 points as the Redmen built a 44-31 halftime lead. An 18-foot jump shot by Luke Kasten gave IWU a manageable 33-29 deficit with 3:05 left in the half.
Carthage responded with an 11-2 run which included a pair of slashing drives by Wiertel and ended with a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Bart Fabian.
"He's good inside," Trost said of Wiertel, who is listed at 6-foot-8, 225 pounds. "He's pretty athletic and then he can step out and shoot. They've got a good inside-outside (attack). You've got to pick your poison."
Wiertel was lethal, making 13 of 23 shots to go with nine rebounds and three blocks.
"I'm sure that other people feel about Wiertel the way we felt about (former IWU All-American Korey) Coon. It probably seems like he's been here for 20 years," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "He has played better for us in big games the last four years.
"He is such a confident offensive player. He finds cracks and crevices. He's a tough matchup. He's a 6-7 kid, but he's a mobile 6-7 kid. He can shoot the face-up shot and then he slashes and finishes so nicely around the basket."
Slippery quick guards Rob Garnes and Antoine McDaniel dribbled the ball where they pleased, combining for 18 points the first half. Garnes finished with 19 and McDaniel with 13.
"In the last three weeks we have not been finding those shots (that we wanted)," Djurickovic said. "For whatever reason our defensive effort was a little shaky in the first half, but our offensive effort was really good."
Things got out of hand early as Carthage raced to an 11-3 lead, forcing Trost to call time with 16:35 left in the half. His second emergency timeout came 2 minutes later with the gap at 16-6.
"Their intensity level was higher than ours," said IWU guard Chris Silagi, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. "We made a run back at them."
Djurickovic had to call a rescue timeout of his own at the 10:13 mark following a 6-0 Titan run to within 20-17. The flurry included a Kasten bucket, a Silagi 10-footer and a John Camardella layup off a Seth Hubbard pass.
Hubbard ignited a 6-0 run with a pair of baskets before Kasten drained an 8-foot baseline jumper to pull IWU within 29-27. Kasten scored 12 of his team-high 19 points prior to intermission. He was 6-of-15 from the field and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Hubbard finished with eight points.
"Those two guys post harder than anyone in the league," said Wiertel of Hubbard and Kasten. "They never quit on that ball. It is such a struggle for position all the time. Their guards look for them real well.
"I played well. Usually when they come out in a zone, I have a slower night. The way we broke that played into my favor. I got a couple of easy baskets early. I was working hard on following my shot. I had a couple put-backs."
The Titans' best stretch in the second half was a 7-2 hiccup keyed by four Silagi free throws to climb within 50-38 with 12:00 left. Wiertel shrugged off the threat with three baskets in a 3:26 span to push the bulge back to 58-40.
IWU hopes for a rally with the clock stopped was hurt by 10-of-18 free throw shooting the second half. The Titans went 15-of-24 overall.
"How many of those were front ends of one-and-ones?" said Trost, whose team missed two front ends back-to-back in the second half. That half also saw IWU go 0-for-9 from 3-point range to finish at 4-of-18.
IWU managed 37.9 percent field goal shooting the first half. The Redmen finished at 50.8 percent after hitting 52.9 the first 20 minutes.
"They were putting the ball on the floor and taking it to us," Silagi said. "They were playing harder than us. They were all over the place. It didn't help that we didn't shoot well."
Carthage was outrebounded, 38-37. Garnes tied Wiertel to lead Carthage with nine boards.
"They are a good basketball team," Trost said. "They make you make a lot of decisions and they are hard to guard.
"We've got to bounce back and get the next one (Wednesday at Millikin)," Trost said.
WESN to Broadcast Eight Remaining IWU Games
by Bob Quillman
In an effort to bring Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball radio coverage to Bloomington-Normal on nights when Illinois State plays, WESN (88.1 FM) will carry eight remaining Titan games. These include the following contests -- 1/19 at Carthage, 1/23 at Millikin, 1/26 at Wheaton, 1/30 vs North Central, 2/5 at Elmhurst, 2/13 vs Wheaton, 2/20 at North Central, and 2/23 vs Millikin. WESN, Illinois Wesleyan's campus station, has not covered IWU athletics since the 1992-93 school year.
On the broadcast side, legendary play-by-play man Art Kimball will volunteer his services, with help from Mark Aubry and Bob Quillman. The entire effort is also made possible due to enthusiastic WESN station manager Camm Rowland.
Beginning Monday 1/21, WESN will have live streaming capabilities on the internet. This means IWU fans around the state and country can tune in to Titan basketball games.
Please be patient as the station and the broadcast team feel their way through this new venture. The first WESN broadast will be this Saturday, 1/19, at Carthage.
Titans bounce back with blowout victory
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Illinois Wesleyan's 99th basketball victory at Shirk Center arrived later than the Titans hoped, but Saturday's 102-68 verdict over North Park was welcome relief following Wednesday's eight-point loss to Augustana.
"It was a good solid win," said Titan coach Scott Trost, who was 3-5 against North Park while coaching for Elmhurst. "We pushed the ball. Our wings got out and ran. We got some transition baskets.
"We executed what we wanted in the half court. We exploited some stuff with our high-low."
The high post passing to the low post helped IWU collect 21 assists and outscore North Park in the key, 38-24. The Titans' bench outscored its counterpart, 41-20.
Luke Kasten, embarrassed by IWU's effort Wednesday, played 25 intense minutes, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He was 8-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 at the line.
"Luke did a great job sealing (off defenders in the low post)," said teammate John Camardella, who had three assists. "I don't know what their plan was, but obviously they weren't double-teaming Luke the second half."
Kasten's fiery play also earned him a technical when he pushed Joel Youngberg with 9:03 left. The push came after Youngberg raked the ball away from Kasten -- perhaps taking some flesh with it -- out of bounds.
Kasten scored 13 of his 23 points the first half while moving past Mark Edmundson into 28th on the IWU career scoring list with 1,154 points.
Kasten's fellow post player Seth Hubbard had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. All but one of his points came the second half.
"I thought Seth Hubbard played better the second half," Trost said. "He did some really good things."
Hubbard thought the same about his team.
"We came out and played hard," he said. "Our effort was non-existent against Augustana. The last two practices we've been working really hard. We were hoping it would carry over to tonight and it did."
IWU improved to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while North Park dipped to 5-7 and 0-1 as a crowd of 2,800 looked on. It was the Titans' 19th win in the last 22 games against the Vikings.
As impressive as the season-high point total was, Trost was equally pleased with his team's second-half defense.
"The second half I thought we were solid," said Trost, whose team gave up what it usually does the first half, 37 points. "We did a real good job defending their dribble drive."
A 10-0 run to open the second half blew the game open for IWU. The getaway featured a pair of Camardella-to-Kasten passes for points. Camardella finished with 12 points.
"He came in and gave us some really good minutes," Trost said.
Freshman Maurice Vaughn led North Park with 22 points, 15 of which came in the first half. DePaul transfer Sneed Deaderick added 13 points.
North Park went up, 16-11, with help from two 25-foot 3-pointers by Deaderick.
Two free throws and a 3-pointer by Camardella preceded an Eric Starkey layup to spark a 14-3 IWU run. A Jason Collins 3-pointer later pulled North Park within 27-25, but the Titans responded with a 7-0 surge.
IWU's lead hovered around nine the last six minutes of the half until Shawn McGuire sandwiched a driving three-point play and a 3-pointer around a Vaughn layup to make it 47-37 at intermission.
"I thought Shawn McGuire played outstanding," said Trost after the sophomore finished with 10 points without missing a shot. "I think he's got some confidence now."
Camardella said, "They started to get the momentum before halftime. Shawn turned it right back around so we had it going into the second half."
Laban Cross added 11 points and six rebounds for the Titans, who shot 60 percent from the field (15 of 25) the first half and finished at 58 percent for the game. North Park shot 33 percent from the field and was outrebounded, 49-30.
"This will help with our confidence," Trost said.
Next up for IWU is a visit to No. 1 nationally ranked Carthage next Saturday.
"I'm glad we've got a week to prepare," Camardella said.
Augie snaps IWU home win streak
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- The Illinois Wesleyan basketball team played well enough in stretches Wednesday night to win many games -- just not many in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
After digging a 24-point hole the first half, IWU came back within six the second half before falling to Augustana, 85-77, in front of 2,400 at Shirk Center.
"I guess we kind of learned a lesson today," said Titan point guard Chris Silagi. "We've got to come out ready to play and play a full 40 minutes. We played well in spurts, but that ain't going to cut it in the CCIW."
IWU's imbalance in scoring will rarely cut it either as Silagi and Luke Kasten combined to score 43 of the Titans' first 50 points.
Kasten battled his way to a career-high 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 9-of-14 free throw accuracy. Silagi added 17 points as IWU's 20-game home winning streak ended.
The Titans dropped to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the league while Augustana won its eighth straight to move to 10-3 and 2-0.
The Vikings' 6-foot-2 sophomore Drew Carstens was unstoppable, scoring 30 points on 9-of-14 field goal shooting and 9-of-11 free throw accuracy.
"He has no weakness in his game," said IWU coach Scott Trost, who watched Carstens score in the low post and off the drive as easily as from 3-point range where he made 3 of 4. "He may be one of the best perimeter players we've played this year."
IWU may have survived Carstens' brilliance if Viking freshman Brian Allured had missed the team bus. Instead, he rarely missed, scoring 18 points with help from 5-of-7 3-point accuracy.
"We've got a lot of great shooters and they played with great confidence," said Augie coach Grey Giovanine, who only has one senior. "I think that's the biggest challenge for a young team on the road."
Carstens scored 10 unanswered points as Augie took a 10-2 lead.
"I got some open looks and I took them," he said. "There were great kick-outs by the posts and good screens. Everybody was playing well together."
The Vikings made 13 of their first 16 shots while grabbing their biggest lead at 35-11 with 8:24 left in the half.
"I think they were hot, but we weren't guarding them," Silagi said. "I don't think a lot of them were tough shots. They came out with a lot more intensity."
IWU mounted an 18-4 run, making its last eight shots the final 4:40 of the first half to trail, 44-33, at intermission.
"I just kept waiting for them to make their run," Giovanine said. "As good of a team as they are and as strong offensively as they are, we knew they were going to make a run."
Trost said, "It shouldn't take us to get down for us to play as hard as we can."
The promise of the first half rally went unfulfilled in the second half as Carstens contributed 10 points to a create a 66-44 gap with 12:26 left.
"We felt we had to come out the first five minutes of the second half and establish ourselves," Silagi said. "Instead, we didn't, they got up by 20 and that ruined our momentum."
It didn't dampen Kasten's fire, though, as he scored 11 second-half points, including a 4-foot jump shot to pull IWU within 76-70 with 2:30 left.
"You saw our youth down the stretch, but give them credit. They weren't going to make it easy," Giovanine said.
Augie's Mike Nee, who only missed one shot, ended IWU's final rally with the last of his 15 points to make it 78-70.
Augustana shot 65.4 percent from the field the first half and finished at 51.9 percent compared to IWU at 42.9 percent (27 of 63 with five air balls).
"They played very well and shot the ball extremely well," Trost said. "I'm disappointed we didn't give ourselves a chance. I thought they beat us in every facet of the game."
As much as the loss stung, Trost wasn't ready to call it fatal, especially with 12 games left beginning with Saturday's 7:30 p.m. home game against North Park.
"It's one game," he said. "It doesn't make a season. We've got to get the next one."
IWU eyes charity stripe, converts often in victory
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Illinois Wesleyan's 80-70 basketball victory over Elmhurst College was better than a poke in the eye Saturday night although those who were poked in the eye might have to think about their answers before agreeing.
The contest, played in front of 2,400 at Shirk Center, was the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener for both squads.
IWU's third consecutive victory lifted its record to 7-5 and moved its home winning streak to 20. Elmhurst, which has lost three straight to the Titans, dropped to 7-5 and fell to 13-86 in the series.
Luke Kasten, the reigning, CCIW player of the week, led the Titans with 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 free throw shooting.
IWU captain Ryan McCreery left the game with an eye injury with 16:53 left in the first half. Teammate Eric Starkey was hit in the face at the 10:10 mark and left, but returned six minutes later and went on to lead the Titans in rebounds with eight to go with 11 points and four assists.
The physical nature of the game saw IWU march to the free throw line 38 times where it made 29 (76 percent), outscoring Elmhurst by 16 at the stripe.
"I felt we just weren't used to playing this physical of basketball," said Elmhurst coach Mark Scherer, a Roanoke-Benson High School and Eureka College product. "Wesleyan, because they are more experienced, has the feel for how far they can go in our league without getting a foul."
Scherer went too far in questioning the officiating when he drew a technical foul with 3:16 left. Laban Cross, who finished with 20 points, converted both free throws to give IWU a 74-62 lead.
"They play a physical style and they've got some good young players," said Titan coach Scott Trost after his first game against the school he coached from 1992-96. "It was a battle. I didn't think we played great, but we played well enough to win."
Elmhurst was led by freshman Chris Martin of Eureka, who tallied 17 points on 7-of-11 accuracy. Freshman Reuben Slock added 13 and 6-6, 265-pound Ryan Voss had 10. Illini Central freshman Evan Arnold scored five points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
"Slock is probably as talented as any freshman in the league," Trost said. "We got to the line with dribble drive. We did some things to create situations so we could get to the line."
Trost said IWU missed McCreery's experience and his outside shooting. Most importantly, McCreery, who suffered a minor cut on the white of his left eye, was being counted on to guard Martin.
"McCreery matched up well with him," Trost said.
IWU trainor Bill Kauth Jr. said McCreery should be able to return to practice Monday.
The Titans zoomed to an 11-2 lead as Elmhurst missed 11 of its first 12 shots. Kasten began the early flurry with two free throws and a pair of short jumpers. Cross followed with a basket off an inbounds pass from Starkey and then hit a 3-pointer.
"Whenever the CCIW season starts, everybody takes up a whole new attitude," Kasten said. "Who says there is nothing good after Christmas? When Ryan went down, it was like 'we are going to get this done for him.'"
A 14-foot jump shot by Kasten spotted IWU a 68-53 lead with 6:20 left, but Elmhurst answered with a 7-0 run. The Bluejays never got any closer as the Titans made 12 of 14 free throws down the stretch.
"The conference is a real physical conference," Cross said. "We happened to get to the line a lot tonight. We've been working in practice on getting to the hole and getting to the line more."
IWU opened the second half with a 9-4 run that included a pair of Kasten baskets, two free throws by Cross and a Chris Silagi 3-pointer to put IWU up 46-32 with 17:01 left. Silagi finished with 13 points.
A 3-pointer and a layup by Slock sandwiched around a Martin hoop brought Elmhurst back within nine with 15:39 to go.
Cross scored 12 points the first half, which saw IWU's lead fluctuate between 13 and six points over the final 13 minutes.
IWU's 37-28 halftime lead could have been greater as the Titans missed six of 15 free throws.
The Titans, who shot 41 percent from the field the first half, finished at 46 percent compared to Elmhurst at 44 percent.
IWU won the battle of the boards, grabbing a 23-13 halftime edge en route to a 36-31 advantage overall.
Titans cruise in California finale
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- After dodging roller-bladers during a side trip to Venice Beach on New Year's Day, the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team rolled past California Lutheran, 97-71, at CLU Gymnasium Wednesday.
The triumph was the first for IWU on an opponent's home court this season and lifted its record to 6-5 heading into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener against Elmhurst at Shirk Center.
It was the Titans' first meeting with California Lutheran, a Division III school of 1,600 students. Not many were on hand Wednesday as a crowd of 135 watched IWU reach its season high for points and score 16 more than the Kingsmen had allowed any other team.
The Titans had six players in double figures led by 6-foot-4 junior John Camardella, who scored 17 on 7-of-8 shooting and had a team-high seven rebounds to help drop the Kingsmen to 7-3.
"We played 35 minutes of good basketball," Camardella said. "We had a lapse to begin the second half. We're really close to playing 40 minutes. We're almost there."
Laban Cross added 16 points for IWU and Luke Kasten managed 12 despite foul trouble. Seth Hubbard added 12 while Chris Silagi and Eric Starkey had 11 apiece.
"We came out and played well together in the beginning," Cross said. "We did the things we've been working on in practice. We're disappointed with the second half. We played down to the competition."
IWU only outscored Cal Lutheran, 44-42, the second half.
Zareh Avedian, a 6-6 sophomore, paced the Kingsmen with a career-high 34 points, 12 above his average.
A hallmark of IWU's play was its 22 assists including six by senior captain Ryan McCreery and four by Starkey.
"We addressed it after the Alberta game -- make the extra pass," said Titan coach Scott Trost. "Share the ball and don't be so concerned about just scoring."
Cal Lutheran, which had been outrebounding opponents by 1.5 per game, was outrebounded by IWU, 35-32. The Kingsmen shot 38 percent from the field, well below their season average of 51 percent. IWU shot 63 percent.
"When our defensive intensity is hot, then we are a good team," Trost said. "Tonight we came out and really played hard. That contributed to our offense. On offense, we hit shots."
IWU got the best of the turnover differential at 14-12.
The Kingsmen, who trailed by as many as 28 the first half, got seven unanswered points from Avedian while pulling within 59-44 with 15:07 left.
"The second half we battled a little bit," said Cal Lutheran coach Rich Rider, who was missing four players because of injury or illness including his starting point guard and a 6-foot-10 post player. "The first half we didn't force (IWU) to break a sweat.
"Zareh has really come into his own the last year. He's a very natural scorer. He's not a selfish scorer. Probably our downfall is we rely on him too much."
Hubbard ended Cal Lutheran's second-half run with two free throws and Camardella provided a rebound basket. After another Avedian hoop, Cross popped in a pair of 3-pointers to make it 69-46 with 12:19 left.
The Titans, who finished 12 of 23 from 3-point range (52 percent), followed an Avedian layup with a 9-0 run ignited by a Jim Lehan layup. Marty Eich added a baseline drive for two before Camardella connected on a 3-pointer and Starkey completed a fast break to give IWU a 78-48 lead with 9:02 left.
Cal Lutheran used an 11-6 flurry at the end of the first half to remain within 53-29 at halftime. IWU's previous high for a first half this season was 50 against Benedictine.
The 20-minute green and white outburst featured 63.9 percent shooting by the Titans, whose 23-of-36 accuracy included 12 layups. Greasing the IWU machine that half were 16 assists.
In the early going, IWU was trailing 10-9 when Silagi sank three consecutive 3-pointers within 80 seconds. Hubbard then assisted on layups by Camardella and Starkey to make it 22-10, forcing Rider to call time.
The strategy session couldn't stem the Titans' onslaught as Cross added a free throw before Starkey drained a 3-pointer and broke free for a fastbreak layup to make it 28-10 with 10:22 left in the half.
Avedian, who had 16 points the first half, halted the 19-0 run with a 3-pointer, but then Kasten found Hubbard for a layup and Lehan stole a pass and layed it in. IWU's blizzard of accurate passing continued when Lehan found Hubbard underneath to make it 34-13.
IWU's Shawn McGuire and Kasten kept the gap at 21 by scoring off the dribble. Three assists by McCreery highlighted a 9-0 run that included his 3-pointer. The recipients of his passes were Camardella, Silagi and Cross as the spread zoomed to 47-18.
The Kingsmen's Noah Brocious added 10 points with help from two 3-pointers. All but seven of his field goals this season have come from 3-point range.
Kasten player of the week
IWU's Kasten was named player of the week in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Kasten had 26 points and eight rebounds in an 82-76 loss to lberta on Friday in Santa Barbara, Calif. He followed that outing with a 29-point, 12-rebound effort in a 73-67 win over St. Xavier on Saturday, also in Santa Barbara.
Titans Dominate California Lutheran in Final CCIW Tune-Up
by Bob Quillman (via WJBC radio broadcast)
A long night of travel this evening from LAX to the Central Illinois Regional Airport may have gotten a little easier for the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team to deal with. The Titans pushed their record to 6-5 this afternoon, crushing 2001 NCAA Division 3 Tournament participant Cal. Lutheran 97-71. The Kingsmen, who won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last year, fell to 7-3 on the 2001-02 campaign despite a spectacular 34 point performance by Zareh Avedian.
Illinois Wesleyan trailed the hosts 10-9 at the 15:00 mark in the first half, before rattling off 19 consecutive points over the next five minutes. Chris Silagi nailed three consecutive 3-point field goals during the run that gave IWU a 28-10 lead, and Eric Starkey added 7 points. A 3-pointer by Zareh Avedian (6-6 sophomore, 22 pts/game) stopped the bleeding for the Kingsmen, but the Titans then went on a 19-5 run to push the lead to 29 points, 47-18, at 3:45. Illinois Wesleyan led 53-29 at the half.
Nine different Titans scored in the first half with Chris Silagi's 11 points leading the way. Seth Hubbard added 10 and Eric Starkey 9. IWU shot a red-hot 54% from the field in the opening period. Avedian led the Kingsmen with 16 points.
Cal. Lutheran came out of the locker room on fire, outscoring the Titans 15-6 in the opening minutes of the second half. Avedian was nearly unstoppable, scoring 8 points during the run. After a timeout the Titans settled down, countering with a 10-2 run. Two 3-pointers by Laban Cross led the charge. IWU quickly pushed the lead to 30 points, 78-48, and the Kingsmen never challenged again despite the scoring outburst by Avedian. The Titans led by as many as 34 during the final period.
John Camardella led the Titans with 17 points on 7-8 shooting from the field. Laban Cross finished a very strong California trip with 16 points. Post players Seth Hubbard and Luke Kasten both had 12. Illinois Wesleyan shot a fantastic 63% from the field in the game.
"Our kids played with a little hop in their step today," head coach Scott Trost told WJBC radio. "I am getting more comfortable with the roles, and I think the players are to." Trost was very optimistic about another strong overall performance from 6-4 junior John Camardella. "John really brings a lot of intensity to our squad...he will give us a huge boost heading into conference play."
Today's contest marked the end of non-conference play for Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans begin CCIW play Saturday evening at the Shirk Center against Elmhurst.
Kasten, IWU earn road win
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Like surfers waiting their turn to ride the next big wave, the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team waited to make its move against NAIA Division I St. Xavier Saturday night.
When the Titans did in the third-place game of the 26th annual Tom Byron Classic at Westmont College, it resulted in a 73-67 victory which ended a five-game road losing streak and lifted their record to 5-5.
After close, but losing efforts against Olivet Nazarene and Alberta, the Titans found a way to win Saturday at Murchison Gym and that path went through Luke Kasten, who scored a career-high 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 accuracy from the line.
"I told the guys before the game I want the ball going inside," said IWU coach Scott Trost. "If you're not throwing it in there and he's open, then you're coming out."
Kasten's outburst, which included 12 rebounds, came on the heels of a season-high 26-point effort Friday.
"We're a young team and a lot of guys are playing new roles therefore they've kind of been hesitant (passing inside)," Kasten said. "I knew eventually our chemistry would come together and they would have confidence in me that I would knock down my shots. If I'm double- or triple-teamed, they have to have confidence I will kick the ball out to them for wide open shots."
St. Xavier, which also lost to Illinois State (93-69), saw its record dip to 12-6 overall and 0-3 all-time against IWU.
"That's a good win against a really good team," Trost said. "Hopefully this will help us and keep us going in the right direction."
Laban Cross added 18 points for IWU, which got a lift from John Camardella in his third game back from knee problems. The 6-foot-4 junior grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, blocked three shots, drew a key charging foul and had four assists and four points.
"He does a lot of the intangibles," Trost said. "He brings some toughness."
Camardella's 27 minutes took his teammates down memory lane.
"John played like he played last year," Cross said. "He did things we need from him to win the conference. He's a tough presence we've kind of lacked."
Camardella was more than happy to help.
"We're at a desperate, desperate point in our season," he said. "We hadn't won on the road yet. Being under .500 and entering conference in two games, we really needed this against a good St. Xavier team. Luke played the best game since I've known him. He had that fire in his eyes."
Things got hot for the Titans when their 57-50 lead with 7:53 left turned into a 61-60 deficit at the 3:50 mark. Kasten steadied the boat with a fastbreak reverse layup and Cross followed with a steal and a layup on which he was fouled and sank the free throw to make it 65-62.
"We were needing a win pretty bad tonight," Cross said. "We showed some heart and guts tonight we haven't shown in a few of these games, especially Luke. He had the best game I've seen him play all year."
St. Xavier was still in contention after Donell Ausley's layup cut the gap to 68-65 with 1:25 left. After a timeout with 53 seconds to go, IWU milked the shot clock under heavy pressure before Kasten converted a short jumper in traffic with 29 seconds left.
"We just wanted to run the shot clock down until there was 16 left and run a play for Luke and it worked," Trost said. "When you make shots, it looks like you know what you are doing."
At halftime, IWU enjoyed a 35-28 lead as Kasten and Cross each scored 11 points. There were three ties and six lead changes the first 20 minutes with the Titans posting a 21-16 advantage on the boards. They finished with a 41-34 rebound edge.
Among those feeding Kasten the ball were Seth Hubbard (five assists) and Chris Silagi (four). Silagi helped hold Mark Telander to five points (eight below his average) on 2-of-13 shooting.
The game opened with Cross draining a 3-pointer eight seconds after the opening tip. An 8-0 run gave the Cougars a 10-7 lead before the see-sawing started. Six-foot-five leaper Keith Hampton scored all 12 of his points (six below his average) in the first half. Ausley led St. Xavier with 17 points and Nick Mikal added 12.
"We played harder, but we did not shoot the ball," said St. Xavier coach Tom O'Malley, comparing Saturday's game to Friday's 95-72 loss to Westmont.
St. Xavier shot 41.4 percent from the field compared to IWU at 44.4 percent.
"I thought they (the Titans) played to their limits," O'Malley said. "I thought 34 (Kasten) was exceptional. They've got a lot of role players."
Among those was senior captain Ryan McCreery, who nailed a 3-pointer with 1:44 to go to finish with 11 points.
IWU came in having attempted only two more free throws than their opponents had made this season. That situation improved Saturday as St. Xavier made 5 of 10 compared to IWU's 18 of 20.
IWU guards, who combined to make just 12 of 42 shots (29 percent) against Alberta, warmed up to 8 of 19 (42 percent) against St. Xavier. Also a plus after attempting no free throws against Alberta, IWU guards got to the line for nine attempts Saturday, making them all.
"The bottom line is we played better," Trost said.
Kasten's 26 not enough in IWU loss
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Gridlock on Ventura Highway slowed the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team Thursday and the University of Alberta did likewise Friday, holding off the Titans, 82-76, in the first round of the 26th annual Tom Byron Classic at picturesque Westmont College.
Despite Luke Kasten's season-high 26 points, the Titans' road losing streak reached five games as they fell to 4-5 ahead of today's 7:30 p.m. (CST) consolation game at Murchison Gym against St. Xavier (12-6), a team which lost to Illinois State, 93-69, Nov. 1.
Alberta, an Edmonton-based school of 26,000, improved to 19-1 on its way to meeting host Westmont (13-5) in tonight's 9:30 title game. Westmont dominated St. Xavier, 95-72.
Alberta's Robbie Valpreda, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound junior with two years of eligibility remaining (collegians get five years in Canada), had 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Four spirited rallies by IWU came up short and Coach Scott Trost blamed 14 turnovers, many of which were of the ill-timed variety.
Three consecutive passing errors put the brakes on a rally which saw IWU pull within 63-56 with 9:51 to go.
"That's conceivably a nine-point swing," said Trost, whose team was outscored 17-11 off turnovers. "It's just frustrating because we are so close. We just make a crucial mistake at a crucial point in the game."
The uphill climb the Titans had to make just to reach the Westmont campus was duplicated in the game with deficits of 8-0, 36-26, 52-42 and -- with 7:03 to go -- 68-58.
Each time IWU rallied, the last time with a 10-2 run to pull within 70-68 with 4:40 left.
"I think they are a scrappy team, which is just what I expected," said Alberta coach Don Horwood, whose squad had been winning by 17 points per game. "I don't think our team played well. I just felt our execution was bad. Our decision making was bad. Overall we were kind of sloppy and some of that was caused by Illinois Wesleyan."
The Titans were still within two after Kasten's basket at the 39-second mark, but Alberta hung on by sinking four straight free throws while IWU missed its last four shots.
"This is one of those games that was definitely winable," said Kasten, who was 11-of-17 from the field to go with a team-high eight rebounds, two steals and two assists. "We didn't have anybody step up to win this game for us. You can't blame any one person on the team.
"Coach keeps saying we have to get a leader to step up, someone who shows passion, but I believe the whole team has to step up and show passion together."
IWU, which came in holding opponents to 39.7 percent field goal shooting and 67.1 points per game, watched Alberta shoot 47.5 percent.
"Our kids never quit," said Trost, whose team made 9-of-35 3-point attempts for 36 percent. "I thought Luke played well. They are a good team and they have tremendous size."
Chris Silagi added 15 points for IWU and Laban Cross added 14 to go with five assists. Kasten moved past Bob Spear into 33rd on IWU's career scoring list with 1,037 points.
The Titans shot 43.1 percent from the field to go with 42 rebounds compared to 36 for the taller Golden Bears.
Alberta got 18 points from Phil Scherer and 13 from 6-9 Reuban Hall.
"We didn't really do the things we wanted to do," Horwood said. "Our ball movement wasn't crisp. We had the game almost blown open a couple times and then we let them back in."
At halftime, the Titans trailed, 42-35, after Alberta sank four free throws in the final minute. IWU finished with a 16-9 edge in offensive rebounds after building a 9-6 advantage in that category the first half.
"They just killed us on the offensive boards," said Horwood, whose team outscored IWU at the free throw line, 21-5. "Supposedly one of our strengths is our size. I just thought they outhustled us."
The Titans were facing a nine-point deficit as Valpreda scored 11 points, most from within arm's reach of the basket, in the first 15 minutes.
"Coming off the Christmas break, I knew we were going to be a little rusty," Valpreda said. "The second half we finally got our groove a little bit. We knew they were going to be tough. Teams down in the States put pressure on us 110 percent. They are a great team. They shot the ball well."
A free throw by Seth Hubbard, a pair of 3-pointers by Silagi and a Ryan McCreery 3-pointer helped pull IWU within 38-35 with 1:44 left in the half.
"Close isn't good enough. We're a team that needs a win right now," Silagi said. "We know we're good enough, but we've got to learn how to win. Winning is contagious and it becomes a habit. It has been a habit at Illinois Wesleyan. I know we'll pick it up."
Alberta opened the game with an 8-0 run while its press forced two turnovers. The Titans proceeded to burn that press during a 13-4 run of their own to take a 13-12 lead. Kasten provided two layups and a rebound basket to ignite his best half of the season, a 12-point effort on 6-of-10 shooting.
The Golden Bears took the lead for good on a Valpreda layin that made it 14-13 with 12:54 to go in the half.
"We're so close, but sometimes it seems like we're a mile away," Trost said. "I guess we've got to find the right button to push."
Road overtime loss leaves IWU upbeat
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
KANKAKEE -- In a basketball game where both sides seemed to have an answer for whatever the other did, Olivet Nazarene got the last question right to secure an 88-81 overtime victory against Illinois Wesleyan Saturday.
After 43 minutes of hand-to-hand combat in front of 1,700 at McHie Arena, the squads were deadlocked at 81. IWU was missing stars Luke Kasten, Laban Cross and Seth Hubbard and Olivet had 6-foot-8 Jeremiah Hamlet, who sank a decisive 3-pointer with 1:38 left.
Two breakaway baskets by 6-9 Olivet All-American Zach Freeman following IWU misses in the final minute made the score more lopsided than the substantial Titan cheering section knew it was.
The Titans' will-to-win was such that Coach Scott Trost didn't view the effort as a loss.
"I'm very pleased and proud of our kids," said Trost, whose team fell to 4-4 overall and 0-4 on the road.
Trost was especially impressed his squad remained in contention after Kasten fouled out with 3:45 left and Cross fouled out with 5:35 remaining. Hubbard didn't play because of mononucleosis.
"That says a lot about the character and quality of players we have on this team," said Trost, who had people picking up slack left and right. "A break here or there and it could have been a different story."
Olivet coach Ralph Hodge, whose team improved to 10-3, said, "I thought Wesleyan played a more solid game than we did. I think they will grow from this game and we will, too."
The shootout nature of the contest was perfect for Cross, who scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-10 accuracy from 3-point range.
"Laban was fantastic," said Trost, whose team was outscored at the free throw line, 17-7.
Chris Silagi wasn't bad either, pouring in 19 points with help from 5-of-8 accuracy from 3-point range. The teams combined to shoot 60 3-pointers. IWU was 16 of 35 and Olivet 13 of 25.
Silagi's spinning drive for a layup with 14 seconds left in regulation tied it at 79 to force overtime.
"I think today everybody had their best individual game," said Silagi, who had a team-high seven rebounds and a game-high six assists. "We came out and made plays. On the other hand, they made plays, too."
Eric Starkey made his share for IWU en route to 13 points and Kasten had 10. Ryan McCreery chipped in nine points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
IWU began the game in a zone defense designed to slow Freeman, who finished with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with 11 rebounds.
"Freeman is as good a player as we will play all year," said Trost, who didn't want Kasten guarding Freeman man-to-man for 40 minutes without Hubbard around to help. "Hamlet shoots the ball as well as anybody 6-8 who we will see all year."
Hamlet finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Olivet's Jeff Park added 16 points and Tony Hodge 10.
IWU came in having beaten the Tigers, ranked 13th nationally in the NAIA, five straight times since 1992-93. Olivet still trails in the series, 17-4.
"It was a pretty exhausting game," said Hodge, whose team won its 18th consecutive home game against a nonconference foe. "Both teams were patient and the kids who were open knocked the shots down."
Olivet shot 51 percent from the field and gained a 40-31 rebounding edge. The teams were tied at 55 when the Tigers made seven consecutive shots during a 14-9 run. Olivet then missed six straight shots as IWU took its last lead at 77-75 with 1:37 left in regulation.
"We worked harder this afternoon than we probably have the whole year," Cross said. "We can be proud of that. They just hit some shots down the stretch."
IWU controlled much of the first half after taking a 10-4 lead on two baskets by Kasten and two 3-pointers by Cross, who had 14 points prior to halftime. A 4-foot jump shot by Starkey with six seconds left forced a 37-37 tie at intermission.
The Titans, who took 15 of their 32 first-half shots from 3-point range (making seven), didn't attempt a free throw until 16:22 remained.
"Sometimes we rely on jump shots too much," said Trost, who still saw more positives than negatives. "We're going to win a lot of games. People who watched this game know we're a good basketball team."
Titans just not at home on the road
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
ST. LOUIS -- The shooting touch and confidence displayed by the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team while cruising to a four-game winning streak at home hit a bump in the road Saturday.
The No. 22 nationally ranked Titans fell to 0-3 on the road following an 81-58 loss to No. 10 Washington before a crowd of 787.
"We haven't played very good on the road," said IWU coach Scott Trost, whose team fell to 4-3. "We haven't shot the ball. We lose our focus. We go on the road -- I don't know what it is -- a mindset or what. That has got to change."
The tone of the game changed when the Bears (8-1) made a 9-4 run to take a 39-33 halftime lead. Their advantage was 47-39 in the second half when they started a 13-0 run that included four missed shots and four turnovers by the Titans.
"They hit some shots and then we got flustered and panicked, and just lost concentration and focus," Trost said. "With a team that is a pretty experienced team for the most part, that shouldn't happen."
After Washington went up 60-39, IWU never got the gap under 14. Making up ground is never easy while shooting 24 percent from the field (7 of 29) as IWU did the second half compared to 50 percent the first half.
"We couldn't get into what we were trying to do," said Laban Cross, who led the Titans with 14 points and seven rebounds. "Their defense seemed to have something to do with that, but our lack of execution had something to do with it, too. It didn't seem like our heads were in the game the second half."
To its credit, IWU was able to dribble penetrate Washington's defense, but that wasn't always a good thing because of 6-foot-8 junior Jarriot Rook, the Bears' career block leader with 164, who swatted away six shots Saturday.
"We had two as a team. That makes a big difference," Trost said. "You can get out and pressure more knowing you have a kid back there who can block some shots."
Washington coach Mark Edwards said, "He's got really long arms. He doesn't take fakes. He waits until the ball is released and then he swipes at it."
Luke Kasten was the only other Titan in double figures with 13 points.
Washington countered with five players in double figures led by 5-10 junior Matt Tabash, who set career highs with 19 points and 12 assists. Rook added 15 points, Chris Jeffries 14, Dustin Tylka 11 and Joel Parrott 10.
"Wash U. is a good basketball team," Trost said. "We didn't play very well tonight."
IWU came in holding teams to 61.3 points and 36 percent shooting, but gave up a season-high 81 points on 54.4 percent shooting. The Bears were 9-of-18 from 3-point range compared to IWU at 6-of-19.
"On the road, your shot may not fall, but you better be able to defend," Trost said. "We haven't defended on the road yet."
IWU had Washington on the ropes early, taking an 11-4 lead.
"I thought Illinois Wesleyan was really well prepared," said Edwards, whose team had lost seven straight to IWU since 1989. "(The final margin) wasn't indicative of the type of game that was played."
The 23-point loss was IWU's worst of the season.
"I thought defensively, they were very active," Edwards said. "They kept us from getting the ball in the post. We made some adjustments at halftime. We tried to clear a side. Defensively, we tried to not help off as much."
In summing up his team's status, Edwards may have given the Titans a reminder about the recipe for success:
"I think we're talented, but I think the thing that has helped us so far is that our kids are very cohesive. I think Dennie Bridges and Coach Trost would say the same thing -- every great team comes together. It's not the talent that does it. It's the character and leadership."
Titans Begin Difficult Non-Conference Road Stretch
by Bob Quillman, 12/8/01
It's easy to discount the importance of non-conference victories, but for a team looking to make the NCAA tournament, every win is critical. Under the current Division III playoff structure, 19 or 20 wins is a must for teams that do not win their conference's automatic bid. Last year's Illinois Wesleyan Final Four squad just barely snuck into the field of 48 with a 19-6 record.
After starting the season 0-2, with losses to Concordia and Ripon, the Titans have very little room for error in their final 5 non-conference games. Add in the fact that all 5 contests are on the road, against some very strong teams, and it's safe to say we'll learn something about this 2001-02 IWU squad in the next 4 weeks.
Today the Titans travel to St. Louis to face 7-1 Washington University. Scott Trost calls Wash U "the best I have seen so far"...and he has seen the #1 ranked Carthage Redmen play. The Bears are ranked #10 in the current d3hoops.com poll, and are led by 6-6 junior Chris Jeffries (16.8 points/game). 6-8 center Jarriot Rook adds 13.9 points, and 6-3 guard Dustin Tylka 12.1. Wash U's make up and balance is very similiar to IWU's. The Bear's top five scores (Jeffriest 16.8, Rook 13.9, Tylka 12.1, Joel Parrot 9.9, Matt Tabash 9.0) are juniors. Four of the Titan's top five scorers are juniors -- Luke Kasten 13.0, Laban Cross 10.0, Seth Hubbard 9.2, and Chris Silagi 8.5. Senior Ryan McCreery is second in IWU scoring, at 10.2 per game.
A week from today IWU will face NAIA Division 1 #9 ranked Olivet Nazarene. Entering 12/8 play, the Tigers are 8-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of NCAA D1 IUPUI. Olivet plays Carthage in Kenosha today at 7:30pm. The Bears feature one of the best small college players in the nation in 6'9 Zach Freeman. Freeman entered his senior season with 1985 career points.
Then it's off to sunny California. In game one of the Westmont College Tom Byron Classic on Friday 12/28, the Titans face a bit of a wildcard -- the University of Alberta (Canada). The Bears are 18-1 on the season, behind 18.4 points per game from Robbie Valpreda. It's safe to say we have no idea what caliber basketball Alberta (a school of 30,000 students) plays, but they do appear to have size, and statistically they are impressive. In addition to 6-9, 230 pound Valpreda, the Bears start 6-5 Ryan Baldry and 6-9 Reuben Hall. 6-1 guard Stephen Parker is their second leading scorer, averaging 16.8 per game. Alberta scores 88.7 points per game, while only giving up 71.4.
IWU will play in the championship or consolation game the following night against either St. Xavier (Ill.) or the host, Westmont. Both are members of NAIA Divison 1. St. Xavier is coming off a 30-5 season, and is current 9-4 on the season. Their losses are to Division 1 Illinois State University, and three NCAA Division 2 schools...all on the road. On November 20 they defeated Division 3 WIAC preseason favorite Wisconsin-Whitewater 90-80. Westmont was a 20 game winner last season. As of 12/8, they are 4-5 on the season.
The Titan's final CCIW tune-up will be against California Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. The Division III Kingsmen won the SCIAC last year, and were knocked out of the tournament in round one by Linfield. On November 20 they defeated NCAA D2 Cal State Los Angeles 86-74.
The ideal route to the NCAA Division 3 tournament, of course, is by winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. With Carthage ranked #1 in the nation, Wheaton #9, and other up and coming teams like North Park and Augustana however, that will not be an easy task. Illinois Wesleyan's strong schedule to close out the non-conference slate should go a long way to prepare them for the rigorous CCIW road.
Dual bursts lead explosive IWU past Aurora
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Like a nit-picking fireworks display coordinator, Illinois Wesleyan basketball coach Scott Trost liked his team's explosiveness Tuesday night, but saw a few lulls in the show.
"We've got to develop some consistency," said Trost following an 81-58 triumph over Aurora in front of a crowd of 1,500 at the Shirk Center. "We've got some good, tough games coming up and we're not going to be able to have lulls like that."
The lulls amounted to trading baskets with Aurora, which fell to 6-2.
The fireworks by No. 22 nationally ranked IWU, which won its fourth consecutive game to improve to 4-2, were two Fourth of July grand finale worthy explosions.
The first was an 18-5 run to end the first half leading 45-29. The second was an 18-4 surge after Aurora had crept within 11 in the second half.
That final flurry -- during which the Spartans missed 11 straight shots -- ended with IWU up 75-48 with 6:16 to go.
"It was sloppy, but it's a win," said Trost, whose team committed 15 turnovers, 12 more than in its previous game. "I thought we did some good things."
Among them was IWU's best rebounding performance of the year, a 49-39 advantage led by Eric Starkey's career-high 11 to go with nine points and three assists.
"We had two keys tonight," Starkey said. "One was stopping their transition offense, and the second was rebounding the ball. We came in at halftime only having given up two offensive rebounds.
"The ball kept falling into my hands. Everybody rebounded the ball well."
Ryan McCreery paced Titan scorers with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. His 3-of-6 accuracy from 3-point range was part of a 45.8 percent team showing (11-of-24) from long range.
"I've got a little more confidence in my shot (than past years) and I'm going to take it," McCreery said. "I'm producing and I'm happy with that, and I think the team is happy with that."
IWU fans were positively giddy when Chris Silagi sank three 3-pointers within 70 seconds just before halftime. He finished with 12 points.
"He looked like he was having fun," Trost said. "I've always thought Chris, when he gets his feet set, is as good a shooter as I've worked with at any level."
The Titans also got 13 points apiece from Laban Cross and Luke Kasten. Shawn McGuire provided a team-high five assists.
IWU limited Aurora to 33 percent field goal shooting and just 18 percent (5-of-28) from 3-point range.
"Defensively we contested shots," Trost said. "We defended dribble drive."
Defending 6-foot-5 Aurora leaper Charles Simmons was another matter. The sophomore finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Teammate Brent Gooden, who had 29 points against IWU two years ago, finished with 12.
"At the offensive end, it seems we're a little off in our timing," Trost said. "We were a little sloppy at times. At other times when we were aggressive and made good decisions with the ball, it worked pretty good."
The first 12 minutes was not one of those times as there were seven ties before a 3-pointer by Cross with 8:37 left put IWU ahead to stay at 23-20.
Aurora's only other loss was to No. 11-ranked Calvin (82-49). Next up for IWU is a 3 p.m. game Saturday at No. 10 Washington (Mo.).
Hubbard, IWU upend Chicago
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Illinois Wesleyan basketball coach Scott Trost was banking on something good happening.
Seth Hubbard didn't disappoint.
Trost had the ball in-bounded to Hubbard with 19.4 seconds left in Saturday's home game against the University of Chicago.
Hubbard, who was fouled immediately, banked in the front end of a bonus free throw opportunity and made the second toss as well to give No. 25 nationally ranked IWU a three-point lead and a giant boost toward a 65-60 upset of No. 18 Chicago as 2,000 looked on.
"I'll take it," Trost said of Hubbard's carom. "Seth's a clutch player. That's why we put him in that position to get the first pass. He's big and strong and can handle the ball against pressure -- and he's a good free throw shooter."
Hubbard, who came in shooting 57 percent at the line, made all three of his free throw attempts in the final 4:35 en route to 11 points.
"That was the first bank of my career," claimed Hubbard, who saw Chicago players falling into the lane prior to releasing the ball. "The way I usually shoot free throws, people collapse into the lane. I just heaved it and luckily it went in somehow, but I think I would have gotten another shot."
Hubbard also helped limit 6-foot-8 All-American Derek Reich to 6 of 18 shooting from the field. Reich still managed 22 points and a Shirk Center record 20 rebounds.
"He's a big kid," said Trost, whose team was outrebounded, 47-35. "He did a really good job."
Laban Cross did the job for IWU early, scoring the Titans' first 10 points en route to a team-high 14 on 5-of-10 shooting.
"That's what we need from Laban," said Trost, whose team improved to 3-2 with its 18th consecutive home victory. "I thought this was Laban's best all-around game. We're going to need that to continue for us to be as good as we can be."
Six of Cross' points came off moves in the low post.
"I've always had some low post moves," said the 6-2 Cross, who also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. "I just never grew into the post player body I wanted to."
Titan star Luke Kasten never got a friendly roll while making 3 of 15 shots on his way to nine points.
"He made some big plays down the stretch," said Trost referring to a 7-foot bank shot with 3:58 left that gave IWU a 61-57 lead. Kasten ended the scoring with two free throws with 8.2 seconds to go.
"Some games your shot is not going to fall and you can't hang your head. You've got to come back and make some plays and he did."
IWU had no turnovers while taking a 34-33 halftime lead. It didn't commit its first turnover until 12:44 remained and it finished with just three, 10 below its average.
"That was an emphasis we placed on this team," said Trost, whose team forced 15 turnovers. "Every turnover can be a four or five-point swing."
Saturday's game featured six ties and seven lead changes, but little artistic shooting. The Titans shot 38 percent to Chicago's 30 percent.
"I thought both teams competed really hard," said Chicago coach Mike McGrath. "I don't know that either team played exceptionally well. For a while there, I didn't know if a shot was going to go in."
Chicago, which missed its final eight shots, took its final lead at 57-56 following a pair of Reich free throws with 4:49 left. He finished 10 of 12 at the line. Teammate Jon Poyer added 12 points.
"You can't ask for more than we get from those two players," said McGrath, whose team fell to 2-4.
Among the key contributors for IWU, which led by as much as 43-33 with 16:26 left, included Eric Starkey (three assists), Chris Silagi (three steals) and Ryan McCreery (nine points).
In a pre-game ceremony, the Titans unrolled a banner recognizing last year's third-place national finish. They followed with a banner day at the free throw line, sinking 11 of 12.
Sharp-shooting IWU blasts Benedictine
By Randy Sharer
PANTAGRAPH STAFF
BLOOMINGTON -- The memory of Illinois Wesleyan's lost weekend in Wisconsin continued to recede into the shadows Tuesday under the glare of brilliant shooting.
The Titan basketball team, ranked No. 25 nationally by D3hoops.com, zoomed to a 20-point, first-half lead against visiting Benedictine on the strength of 63 percent field-goal shooting.
When IWU's firing squad was finished, it had an 84-56 triumph and a 17th consecutive victory at Shirk Center in front of 1,700.
"That's the type of shooting I thought we'd have all year," said Titan coach Scott Trost, whose team evened its record at 2-2 after opening 0-2 in the Ripon Tip-Off Tournament. "I think the kids are starting to feel more comfortable in their roles."
Twelve Titans scored led by Seth Hubbard's 14 points, Luke Kasten's 12 and Chris Silagi's 10.
Benedictine (4-2), which came in shooting 47.8 percent from 3-point range, made 18 of 62 shots for 29 percent and only 11 of 34 (32 percent) from long range.
"I thought we played great defense," Silagi said. "We were helping each other inside. We were talking. We did a good job of getting out on their shooters."
Benedictine, which never led, managed an 11-11 tie, which IWU reacted to with a 14-3 run. That surge included two inside baskets apiece from Hubbard and Kasten.
"I didn't think they could guard us inside," said Trost, whose team shot 54.2 percent for the game. "Seth and Luke, we can exploit them inside."
After entering the second half with a 50-30 lead, IWU went on a 15-4 run which began with a rebound basket from Hubbard and ended with his layup.
Trost had emphasized at intermission "don't play to the score." He wanted the Titans to view the remainder of the game as four five-minute segments, each of which needed to be won.
"I don't know if we did that last five," he said.
IWU's biggest lead was 73-38 following a Ryan McCreery 3-pointer with 7:27 left. He finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range to go with a game-high eight rebounds.
"The Shirk Center is a great place to shoot," Kasten said. "We always shoot good here. The key is carrying over our shooting on the road. We were really poor up at Ripon."
The Titans shot 23.8 percent from 3-point range at Ripon compared to 55 percent (11 of 20) Tuesday.
IWU's defensive highlights include two blocked shots by Kasten and one each by Silagi and Laban Cross, all in the first 11 minutes.
"Defensively, we played with a lot of intensity," Trost said. "We played with a sense of urgency every second of every possession."
IWU alarm bells went off the first three games as Kasten got in early foul trouble each time. On Tuesday, he didn't get his third foul until 13:33 remained and he finished with four.
"I go into every game just hoping I don't foul out," he said. "I get more of the ticky tack fouls than you can imagine. Tonight I was guarding more of a perimeter guy. That kind of helped me."
Mike Lind led Benedictine with 16 points and Bryan Uselding added 10.
"It was just a bad shooting night," said Eagle coach Keith Bunkenburg. "On the defensive end, that is where I was more disappointed. We weren't able to keep ourselves in the game.
"They (the Titans) are better than they showed in the first two games. I think they had something to prove tonight. Any time they are at home, they are a very good team."
IWU's bench outscored its counterpart, 35-16. The Titans also outscored the Eagles in the paint, 30-10, and off turnovers, 20-5.
Titans give Trost first triumph
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- In honor of his first victory as Illinois Wesleyan's basketball coach, Scott Trost was presented a ball autographed by his players Tuesday night.
"That was nice," said Trost, who could just as easily have been referring to his team's 88-47 shellacking of Hardin-Simmons before a Shirk Center crowd of 1,000.
Titan senior Ryan McCreery said, "This is what this team needed."
Many of the mistakes IWU made while losing two games in the Ripon Tip-Off Tournament were absent Tuesday.
"Defensively, we contained dribble drive and our help side was a lot better," said Trost after watching the visitors from Abilene, Texas shoot 28 percent from the field. "We were too aggressive up at Ripon and our help side wasn't very good.
"Offensively, we played a lot freer."
The Titans, who came in shooting 24 percent from 3-point range, made 11 of 29 3-pointers for 38 percent and shot 53 percent overall.
"We still need to work on getting the ball inside," Trost said. "We still need to work on the timing of our offense."
McCreery, starting in place of the injured Seth Hubbard, made 3-of-5 3-pointers en route to 13 points. Teammate Luke Kasten, who picked up three fouls in the first 13 minutes, added 21 points.
"We're finally on the same page," McCreery said. "I sense some good things ahead for this ball club."
Eric Starkey provided IWU a team-high four assists to go with nine points.
"I think the offense flowed much more easily this evening than it did over the weekend," he said. "I think everyone looked a lot more relaxed out there coming home to the Shirk Center.
"We were all pretty frustrated after the weekend and we had to come out tonight and get a win for Coach Trost."
All Trost needs is 666 more to tie predecessor Dennie Bridges' record for IWU victories.
"You've got to start somewhere," said Starkey, whose coach has the same record Bridges had after three games.
The Titans started to pull away from Hardin-Simmons after Kasten scored underneath off an assist from Laban Cross to take the lead for good at 10-9 with 14:49 left in the first half.
The gap grew to 41-20 by intermission. IWU opened the second half with a 20-7 run. The biggest lead was 80-34 with 3:47 left following back-to-back baskets by Marty Eich, who finished with a team-high eight rebounds.
"They really execute," said Hardin-Simmons coach Dylan Howard, whose team is 0-2. "They pass so well and they shot the ball extremely well."
Howard believes IWU is the equal of any team in the American Southwest Conference. Eleven Titans scored and nine had between three and nine points.
"A lot of good teams have balance," Trost said. "This team has a lot of guys who can score. That needs to continue if we're to have as good a year as we think we can have."
Kasten's 21 points came in just 18 minutes because of foul trouble.
"They are just little arm fouls," Trost said. "I think it might be a matter of maybe being a half step out of position. They are ticky tack fouls and we need Luke to play. That's three games now where he's gotten in foul trouble."
Trost praised McCreery, who was 5-of-7 from the field and had five rebounds and two steals.
"I thought we got some really good minutes from Ryan," Trost said. "He defended their big kid pretty well."
Trost hadn't planned to use Hubbard, but Hubbard said he could go and when Kasten picked up his third foul, Hubbard went in for seven minutes, scoring four points.
Hardin-Simmons was led by Bryan Conover, who had nine points and eight rebounds.
"Overall, I'm pleased," Trost said. "This is a good game to build on. We need to get better."
Ripon sends IWU to rare 0-2 record
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
RIPON -- The laundry list of things that need fixing on the Illinois Wesleyan basketball team grew instead of shrank Sunday in the Ripon Tip-Off Tournament.
When a 73-51 loss to the host school was over, the Titans felt they had been stuck in the spin cycle.
"There is a litany of things (wrong)," said IWU coach Scott Trost. "Defensively, we're not doing a good job of stopping dribble drive. Offensively, we're not executing."
When Ripon was allowed to penetrate, it kicked the ball back out to make 8-of-12 3-point field goal attempts. Meanwhile, IWU was making just 6-of-24, which wouldn't have seemed so bad if it hadn't shot 4-of-18 in a 74-72 loss to Concordia (Wis.) Saturday.
The Titans' free throw shooting also deserted them Sunday when they made just 11-of-21 and missed five in a row during a scoreless 3:20 stretch in the second half.
"We came out these two games and played scared," said IWU forward Seth Hubbard, who played 31 minutes despite a hand injury suffered in the first five minutes. "We had talked about every team gunning for us and making us the biggest game on their schedule. I guess we didn't take that to heart today."
Ripon coach Bob Gillespie said this may be his best team and the Red Hawks executed as such shooting 50 percent from the field and outrebounding the Titans, 34-26.
"After yesterday, I felt Wesleyan would play very determined today," Gillespie said. "Their big kids are very talented. Our four shut the ball out of the post.
"I've got the best point guard in America (in Steve Kohl). We had three starters injured last year so other kids got to play and that just made us a better team."
Ripon, which improved to 2-0 to win the tournament, tied the series in which the road team has never won at 3-3. IWU fell to 0-2 for the first time since 1988-1989.
The Titans trailed the entire first half, falling behind by as much as 26-16 with 4:37 left. A 3-pointer by Chris Silagi followed by his steal and layup pulled IWU within 27-23 with 1:25 left before halftime.
Ripon, which led 29-25 at intermission, held the Titans to 32 percent field goal shooting the first half and 35 percent for the game.
IWU kept the four-point gap in the second half until Ripon made a 10-0 run to go up 44-30. The Titans hung around within 10 until a 12-1 run by the Red Hawks ended all suspense.
"I take responsibility and I have to find a way to get through to them and make them execute the way they are capable of," Trost said. "Right now we're not playing together. There is not one answer."
The lack of togetherness led to IWU having only nine assists compared to 19 for Ripon.
Hubbard led IWU with nine points and Ryan McCreery added eight. Luke Kasten was named to the all-tournament team after scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds while battling foul trouble.
Ripon was represented on the all-tournament team by Josh Glocke (19 points), Nick Johnson (eight), Kohl (14 points, eight assists, nine turnovers) and Nick Butrym (12). Kohl was named the most valuable player.
"We hung with them for a little bit but they made a spurt in the second half and we just didn't counter," Trost said.
(Sunday November 18)
Ripon Dominates IWU, Titans Start Season 0-2
Illinois Wesleyan entered the season as the #2 ranked team in NCAA Division 3. They left Ripon College this afternoon 0-2 on the 2001-02 campaign. The Titans fell to the Redhawks 73-51, continuing the schools non-conference game troubles in the state of Wisconsin. This marks the first time IWU has started a season 0-2 since 1988-89 when the Titans lost a home game to St. Ambrose and a road contest at Division 1 Northwestern.
Illinois Wesleyan's offensive frustrations of Saturday afternoon carried forward to the first half Sunday. The Titans trailed by as many as 9 points in the period, and had to make a late run to cut the halftime deficit to 4, 29-25. All-CCIW first team performer Luke Kasten played just 5 minutes in the half, after being whisteled for two fouls in the opening two minutes of the game. Kasten returned late in the period and picked up his third personal foul. Senior captain Ryan McCreery led the Titans in scoring in the half with 8. Junior Chris Silagi added 7. On the heels of Saturday's 4-18 3-point performance against Concordia, the Titans shot just 3-15 from beyond the arc in the opening stanza against Ripon.
After a Luke Kasten dunk early in the second half, the Titans trailed 34-30. Ripon then went on a 10-0 run, taking command of the game. Marty Eich and Jim Lehan kept the Titans in it, teaming up for 11 IWU points between the 11:00 and 9:00 marks. The Titans trailed 52-42 with 8:52 to play, but proceeded to miss 6 consecutive free throws -- almost unheard of for a Wesleyan squad. Ripon pulled away and coasted to the 22 point victory down the stretch.
IWU did not have a player score in double digits. Seth Hubbard finished with 9 points and Ryan McCreery had 8. The Titans 3-point shooting woes continued, connecting on just 6 of 24 attempts and are now 10-42 on the season. IWU was a miserable 11 for 21 from the free throw line against Ripon.
"I'm at a loss," new Titan head coach Scott Trost told WJBC. "We have to find a way to get everybody on the same page, because we're just not there now."
The Titans play their first home game of the season Tuesday evening at the Shirk Center, hosting Hardin-Simmons at 7:30pm.
Concordia Shocks IWU in Opener
This is what I posted in d3hoops.com's Posting Up this morning. I'll attach the Pantagraph article as soon as their site is updated...
(I will also have full details on today's Ripon game within a half hour of it's conclusion.)
Concordia (Wis.) 74
IWU 72
Much like the start of the Division 1 season, opening weekend in D3 has seen some big upsets. #2 Illinois Wesleyan, #3 Chicago, #6 Catholic, and #7 Wooster all fall.
I made the trip up to the Concordia game yesterday...and got to witness my third consecutive Titan loss in Ripon's gym.
IWU simply did not make their shots yesterday. Luke Kasten kept them in the game in the first half, scoring 14 points, but the guards went 0-9 from 3. And we're talking open looks here.
In the second half, Luke Kasten got in foul trouble and had to sit early on. Still no luck from downtown either, and the Titans were down 14 points with 10:00 to play. Behind a furious charge led by Laban Cross and Sean McGuire (who did have a good game), IWU tied the game at 67 with about 2:00 to play. But Concordia made play after play down the stretch, and IWU had a couple bad possessions.
I posted earlier this week that I sensed a little insecurity with the Titans, and boy is that the case. They played yesterday without any confidence against a team they should have beaten. Jump shooters all looked tentative.
If Concordia is supposed to be terrible, I sure wouldn't have known it from seeing them yesterday. They have a 6'7 transfer from Carthage that was outstanding -- Derek Berger. He held his own and more against Kasten and Hubbard. They also demonstrated a lot of poise after IWU made the 14-0 run, and had 200 vocal Titan fans on their feet.
Ripon handled Concordia easily Friday night. Everyone I talked to who saw the game said Ripon is very good. Unless the Titans turn things around in a hurry today, they are staring at 0-2 before heading back to the Shirk. Hope they find a way to pull one out today.
I still have all the confidence in the world of IWU being an great team, but I guess I now realize this squad has some growing pains to get through before they realize their potential. Scott Trost is an outstanding coach, and I think he'll find a way to turn this weekend into a positive for the longterm.
Key Stats:
IWU 3-point shooting: 4-18 (0-9 in first half)
Derek Berger, Concordia: 23 points, 7 rebounds (9-12 from the field)
Luke Kasten, IWU: 18 points, 6 rebounds (9-12 from the field)
(Friday October 26, 2001)
Defense defining Trost era for Titans
By Randy Sharer
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- A book about the first eight practices of the Scott Trost basketball coaching era at Illinois Wesleyan would be titled "How to Play Intense Man-to-Man Defense."
That emphasis was the thing players pointed to as the biggest difference between Trost and his predecessor, legendary IWU mentor Dennie Bridges, who retired after going 667-319 in 36 years.
The Titans assembled for Thursday's Media Day at Shirk Center reported the transition to a new coach is going smoothly.
"They are two totally different people, but at the same time they have the same goal in mind," said captain Ryan McCreery, IWU's lone senior. "We're all trying to get used to it and I think we have."
Luke Kasten, a preseason honorable mention All-America pick of Street & Smith's basketball magazine, said, "Coach Trost is a great teacher. He emphasizes defensive rebounding a lot, which our team needs to focus on."
A year ago, IWU finished third in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin before making a giddy post-season run to finish third in the nation.
"After we got a taste of the Final Four last year, we've been pretty driven to get back there," said 6-7 junior forward Seth Hubbard, a University High School graduate.
In the CCIW preseason coaches' poll released Thursday, the Titans were picked second behind Carthage. The Redmen received six first-place votes and 48 voting points compared to two first-place votes and 43 points for IWU.
"How you end up at the end of February, that's what's important to me," Trost said.
Augustana was third with 37 points followed by Wheaton (30), North Park (25), Elmhurst (20), Millikin (14) and North Central (7).
"It's a tough league from top to bottom," Trost said. "Last year Elmhurst was picked sixth and ended up winning the league."
Kasten doesn't mind the No. 2 ranking.
"I'd rather be the underdog," he said.
IWU's seven returning lettermen include six players with starting experience. None of them have been on a CCIW championship team.
"Right now we've got probably nine or 10 players I feel very comfortable with as far as being able to play and produce and contribute at this level," Trost said.
Laban Cross, a 6-2 junior guard who averaged 10.3 points and shot 42.4 percent from 3-point range, is a candidate to replace the graduated Adam Osborn at point guard.
"There is some pressure involved since we had such a great finish last year," Cross said. "We're coming in with a new coach and he has a lot more pressure than we do so that kind of helps us out."
Trost, a former Michigan assistant coach, knows the pressure could be worse.
"This is a great situation," he said. "What makes it a special place is the crowd and the fans. Hopefully we'll win a lot of basketball games."
Other possibilities at point guard are Chris Silagi, a 6-2 junior guard, and junior varsity "graduates" Shawn McGuire and Jim Lehan, both sophomores. McGuire is a 6-1 Prairie Central graduate.
Returnees at forward include 6-4 John Camardella (8.1 ppg), who is recovering from knee surgery. He participates in practice drills not involving cutting and jumping.
"My goal is to get John back in some games in December," said Trost, who doesn't know how much his freshmen will contribute this year.
"The three freshmen we brought in (6-5 Phil Uphoff of El Paso, 6-6 Steve Jeretina and 6-5 John Shafer) I'm very happy with," he said. "Phil Uphoff has the potential to be a very good CCIW player. He's got to get a little bit stronger.
"Those three kids are good additions to our program. How much they fit in, I don't know."
Returning to one off-guard spot is 6-3 junior Eric Starkey (3.4 ppg). IWU lost a pair of three-year starters to graduation in guard Adam Osborn and forward Todd Wente.
"You can't replace that (experience)," said McCreery, who nevertheless likes IWU's mix of personalities and talents. "The possibilities are endless for this team. We can go as far as we want."
(Saturday August 4)
Camardella May Miss Entire 2001-02 Season
by Bob Quillman
Athletic 6'4 forward John Camardella may miss the entire 2001-02 basketball season, due to complications from Reactive Arthritis. Camardella, who will start his junior season at IWU, became inflicted with the rare condition after suffering from food poisening in March, shortly after the season. The symptoms of Reactive Arthritis include pain in all joints in the body, and eye infections.
"April and May were the worst of it and I had to drop my May term class. When I got back to Arlington Heights, I tried to work but couldn't. So my Mom and I started to read all of the literature we could about this bizzare disease. Diet, medicine, water therepy and acupuncture have helped to relieve the pain," said Camardella.
Due to his condition, Camardella has had to postpone necessary surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. He suffered the injury in the opening minute of IWU's sectional victory over University of Chicago March 10.
"As for the season, I'm heartbroken. First to miss the Final Four because of the knee and now to miss the season over food. I know that it is out of my control now and I just hope that I can be vocal enough from the sidelines to help the team. It looks like with a little luck, I might be able to have knee surgery in a few months as long as the symptoms are gone."
An explosive leaper, Camardella led the Titans with 6.4 rebounds per game last season, including 24 total in the 3 full playoff games he participated in. He added 8.1 points per game on the season, and scored a career high 22 against Grinnell in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Division 3 playoffs.