CEDAR RAPIDS – Judson (Ill.) University used a fast break attack to score 60 points in the first half and the Iowa Wesleyan College men’s basketball team never could recover from a huge deficit in an 85-74 loss to the Eagles Friday night.
The Tigers lost their opening game in the Bosch Financial Shootout hosted by Mount Mercy College, falling behind big late in the first half as the Eagles pushed the ball at breakneck speed. IWC fell to 1-2 on the season while the Eagles won their season opener.
Judson shot 57.8% in the first half, making 26 of 45 shots. Many of those shots were layups and short shots off the fast break late in the half, when the Eagles finished with a 26-6 run over the last 5:36 to build a commanding 60-31 halftime lead.
Wesleyan suffered from cold shooting in particular in the first half, making just 9 of 31 shots (29.0%). The Tigers never really heated up, finishing the game making 22 of 65 field goals (33.8%) but stayed persistent in the second half and cut into the lead late.
Judson built the lead to as much as 34 points early in the second half but IWC continued plugging away, eventually getting as close as 11 on two occasions in the final two minutes. The Tigers were aided by tremendous free throw shooting, hitting 27 of 28 shots from the line (96.4%), and also got an excellent second half from freshman Brett Azinger (Montrose, Iowa), who scored 14 of his 20 points and grabbed six of his 11 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Weldon Miller (Jr.-San Rafael, Calif.) had another strong game with 22 points on 10 of 16 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. Daniel Missey (Fr.-Pacific, Mo.) and Jamal Blackmond (Fr.-Aurora, Ill.) both added six points each off the bench.
Landon Skinner led the Eagles with 16 points. Judson shot 48.1% in the game (38 of 79) and had 16 steals, in all forcing 20 IWC turnovers. The Eagles are two-time defending Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference champions and finished 21-11 last season.
Wesleyan will continue its play in the tourney on Saturday when it faces Trinity International (Ill.) University at 2 p.m. at the Hennessey Recreation Center on the Mount Mercy campus. The Trojans were 91-72 losers to host Mount Mercy in the second game Friday night. Saturday’s game will be broadcast online by IWC at www.iwc.edu/onlinemedia.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score Judson 85 IWC 74
