Pantagraph/Carlos T. MirandaAfter a loss to Carthage in the CCIW Tournament final, the IWU men's basketball players had to hold their collective breath and hope for their first bid to the national tournament since 2006. Just over a week later, the Titans find themselves in a Sweet 16 match-up with ... Carthage.
In fact, this Friday's game--which will take place at Wisconsin-Stevens Point--will mark the fourth time the two teams have met this season. The Titans won at home while losing twice in Kenosha. Carthage is led by CCIW's leading scorer Steve Djurickovic, who scored 22, 18 and 26 points, respectively, in the teams' first three games.
IWU (22-7) had to defeat #1 nationally ranked Washington University on the Bears' home floor to get to the Sectional round, and earned a 75-70 victory behind 24 points from Sean Johnson (it should be noted that this win was predicted by Bob Geraty). The Titans are now 4-0 against Wash U in tournament games, and the win ended an 18-game tournament winning streak for the two-time defending national champs.
If coach Ron Rose can lead the team to a win over Carthage, the Titans will face the winner of UW-Stevens Point (25-4) and Texas-Dallas (24-5) on Saturday night.
Perhaps Bob Geraty can predict a few more wins??
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