Illinois Wesleyan falls in D-III semis

When Kevin Reed threw a beautiful no-look pass to Stephen Rudnicki for a layup it looked as if Illinois Wesleyan was on its way to the NCAA Division III men’s basketball championship game.

One of 6 assists by the former Prospect star gave Wesleyan an 8-point lead with 6:22 to play in Friday night’s semifinal against Cabrini (Pa.) in Salem, Va.

But Cabrini (31-1) responded and a tiebreaking 3-pointer by Jeremy Knowles with seven seconds left sent Wesleyan to a heartbreaking and season-ending 81-78 defeat. Cabrini will play for the national title at 6 p.m. today against Wisconsin-Whitewater (28-4), a 71-56 winner in the other semifinal against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (29-2).

Reed, a 6-foot-7 junior who was a two-time all-area pick at Prospect, also had 6 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes. Jordan Zimmer of downstate Delavan had 19 points and hit five 3-pointers and Rudnicki (11 points), who played at Evanston, hit a 19-footer to tie the game at 78-78 with 15 seconds left.

Wesleyan trailed 48-40 with 2:08 left in the half. A shot just inside midcourt to force overtime by Eliud Gonzalez rimmed off at the buzzer.

Wisconsin-Whitewater will play for its third D-III title and first since 1999.

MIT had a 29-game winning streak end as freshman Nick Prus, a two-time all-area pick from Buffalo Grove, saw action in the final minute. Prus played in 12 games and averaged 1.4 points.