Wheaton up for CCIW play
The Wheaton men’s basketball team enjoyed wins of 24, 37, 35 and 30 points during a 9-2 romp through the nonconference portion of its 2011-12 schedule.
But the Thunder is well aware that the opening of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Wednesday means the time for double-digit laughers has passed — and that goes for everyone.
“We blew several teams out,” Wheaton men’s coach Mike Schauer said. “That just isn’t going to happen in our league.”
The CCIW will kick off 2012 with a full slate of men’s and women’s basketball games Wednesday, with every team — including those from Wheaton, Elmhurst and North Central — playing its conference opener.
On the men’s side the marquee matchup should be a meeting between Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan at the Shirk Center in Bloomington. Wheaton last won the CCIW title in 2009 but rode a strong 2-0 holiday performance at the Trinity University National Invitational in San Antonio to the No. 23 spot in the D3hoops.com Top 25 rankings this week. Illinois Wesleyan received four Top 25 votes, and matched Wheaton’s 9-2 nonconference record.
Schauer said he expects the Titans to push the tempo in an effort to get easy baskets in transition, a staple of past Illinois Wesleyan teams. But these Titans can also play defense, allowing 65.5 points per game this season.
“This is one of the best Illinois Wesleyan teams I’ve been around,” Schauer said. “Not many teams can go into (Bloomington) and win, but I think we can.”
North Central is the conference’s defending regular-season champion and will take its 6-5 nonconference record into a 7:30 p.m. home game against Carthage (6-5) on Wednesday. The Cardinals have won two straight, including a 62-38 victory over Manchester Friday.
Elmhurst (6-5) will host North Park (4-7) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
On the women’s side Wheaton is also playing Illinois Wesleyan (7-4) in Bloomington on Wednesday. The Thunder will have its hands full with a Titans team that has won the past four CCIW championships and features one of the best players in the conference in senior guard Olivia Lett.
But Wheaton (7-4) is streaking, with three straight wins by an average of 28.6 points.
Just in time for conference play.
“You look forward to every game,” Wheaton women’s coach Kent Madsen said. “But when you get into conference play, you realize that these are the games that get you into the conference tournament.”
Elmhurst (9-2) and North Central (6-5) will host North Park (6-5) and Carthage (6-5), respectively, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Elmhurst: Elmhurst#146;s wrestling team will take its perfect 8-0 record in dual matches into the Cliff Keen National Duals in Springfield Saturday.The 16-team tournament includes six of the top 10 teams in the NCAA Division III Coaches Top 25 poll, including the No. 10-ranked Bluejays, who are seeded No. 6 at the national duals.Junior 184-pounder Joe Rau is fresh off a sixth-place finish against Division I competition at the Midlands Championships in Evanston on Saturday and will lead Elmhurst in a first-round matchup with No. 11-seeded Johnson and Wales.If the Bluejays win they would face the winner of a match between No. 3 Ithaca and No. 14 UW-Stevens Point on Saturday afternoon. The tournament champion will be decided at 3 p.m. Sunday.North Central (4-4) is also wrestling at the national duals. As the No. 16 seed the Cardinals will face No. 1-seeded Wartburg #8212; the top-ranked team in the country #8212; Saturday.