ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603110112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
The trend continued Saturday night.
Last season, Illinois Wesleyan gave Washington (Mo.) its first and last loss. This season, the Titans beat the Bears in Illinois Wesleyan's tip-off tournament, giving Washington its first loss of 1995-96. In the final of the South/Midwest Sectional at the Bast Center, the Titans again ended the Bears' season with a loss, this time by a 73-61 score.
``I'd rather have it be Illinois Wesleyan than Rose-Hulman,'' said Washington coach Mark Edwards, referring to his team's first-round opponent.
One first was accomplished Saturday night. The Titans reached the Final Four for the first time.
``We've been on the brink about seven or eight times,'' said Illinois Wesleyan's coach of 31 years, Dennie Bridges. ``These are the first guys to take me.''
The Titans will face Rowan (N.J.) in the second game at 8 p.m. Friday. Franklin & Marshall (Pa.) meets Hope (Mich.) in the Final Four's first game at 6.
The Bast Center crowd of 735, most of which was made up of Titan fans, saw Illinois Wesleyan pull away 57-48 with 7:48 to play, but Washington didn't give up.
The Bears' switch to a zone defense kept the Titans in check for the next few minutes. Illinois Wesleyan settled the outcome, however, when guard Brady Knight stole the ball from Washington's J.J. Siepierski with 1:58 to go and laid it in for a 63-55 lead.
``It was the first time I had guarded him all night,'' said Knight. ``I guessed left, he went left and I was there. I ran as fast as I could.''
``That was the play that made me feel we were going to the Final Four,'' said Bridges.
Chris Simich led the Titans (27-2) with 19 points and Knight had 12. Kevin Folkl had 20 for the Bears (23-6).
It was Washington's lowest scoring output of the season. The Bears shot just 40.8 percent against Illinois Wesleyan's quick and tall defenders. ``I tried to tell Dennie before the game to let us shoot and he didn't listen,'' Edwards said. ``We needed to get the `3' at the end and we couldn't get a look.''
Bridges wouldn't say whether it was his greatest win as a coach, but he did say it had to be in the top three and he couldn't remember the other two. His players were so happy for themselves and their coach after the game that they took time away from cutting the nets to give Bridges a victory lap on their shoulders.
``We got in the huddle before the start and said we wanted to do it for him, too,'' Simich said. ``We wouldn't have picked him up and carried him around if it didn't mean anything.''
This one meant almost everything to both sides. For the Bears, it means they'll just have to try, try again.
``It seems like we spend the whole season getting ready to play Illinois Wesleyan,'' said Edwards.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB