La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked fifth on D3hoops.com, advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Elite Eight with a 72-65 victory over ninth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Friday night in Mitchell Hall in the Sweet 16.
 
The Eagles, now 25-5 on the season, advance to face 17th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) on Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in the Elite Eight. The Titans finish their season at 24-6.
 
WashU (Mo.) earned a 59-56 victory over 22nd-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College on Friday. 

 
UWL was making its first appearance in school history in the NCAA III Sweet 16.
 
In the second-ever meeting between the two teams, Illinois Wesleyan took a 10-9 lead with 13:02 left in the first half Friday on a Hakim Williams layup, but five straight points from Dustin Derousseau gave UWL a 14-10 lead. The Titans' Harrison Wilmsen made a jumper with 10:58 remaining to cut the Eagles lead to 14-12 when UWL's Khris Green scored five consecutive points for a 19-12 lead with 10:00 left.
 
The Titans went on a 9-2 run to force a 21-21 tie with 5:45 remaining on Josh Fridman's layup. Illinois Wesleyan took a 33-29 halftime lead on Williams' layup with :08 left.
 
Williams' three-pointer with 13:46 remaining in the second half gave Illinois Wesleyan its largest lead of the game at 48-32. The Titans opened the second half on a 15-3 run. UWL cut it to 52-43 with 10:02 left on Will Fuhrmann's jumper, but a three-pointer from Fridman extended Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 55-43.
 
JJ Paider's three-point play and pair of free throws cut the lead to 55-48 with 8:27 remaining. Nick Roper's free throw gave Illinois Wesleyan a 56-48 lead when UWL used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 56-55 with 6:30 left after Dustin Derousseau's three-point field goal. 

 
Roper's layup made it 58-55 when the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to take a 62-58 lead with 3:18 remaining. Paider's layup cut it to 58-57 and after a Titans' turnover; Fuhrmann gave UWL a 59-58 lead with 4:38 left with a layup. It marked UWL's first lead since 25-23 with 4:23 remaining in the first half.
 
Paider's three-point play gave the Eagles a 62-58 lead with 3:18 left. Illinois Wesleyan later cut it to 64-62 on Karlo Colak's layup with 2:19 remaining, but the Titans would get no closer the rest of the game. Paider's layup made it 66-62 and added four free throws for a 70-62 lead. The Eagles took their largest lead at 72-62 on Derousseau's dunk with :11 left.
 
UWL shot 46.3% from the field Friday, including 30.0% (three-of-10) from three-point range, and 73.1% (19-of-26) at the free throw line.
 
Paider led the Eagles with 21 points and nine rebounds while Derousseau totaled 20 points and eight rebounds. Paider scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half. Grieger finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Fuhrmann registered eight points and two steals.
 
Illinois Wesleyan shot 40.9% from the field, including 26.1% (six-of-23) from three-point range, and 55.6% (five-of-nine) at the line.
 

Williams led the Titans with 14 points while Colak finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Mason Funk and Marko Anderson each scored nine points while Roper and Fridman each had seven. Roper had a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Illinois Wesleyan had earned a 65-56 victory over UWL in the 2022 NCAA Division III Second Round.
 
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