ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team fell in a heartbreaker at the buzzer to (RV) Illinois Wesleyan, 78-76, on Thursday afternoon in the final game of the 2025 calendar year. It is the first loss for the Bears, who are now 8-1 on the year.
Sophomore
Connor May scored 20 points and had seven rebounds while senior
Yogi Oliff scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out two assists.
The game was even from the jump, proving to be a physical game as has come to be expected in a clash between the Bears and Titans.
WashU netted the first points of the game as junior
Ryan Cohen hit a 3-pointer at 18:13. The Titans tied things up at four apiece and went on to take a 7-6 lead following a 3-pointer from Noah Cleveland. Another 3-pointer from Casen Lawrence put the Titans ahead 10-6 at 15:26.
Less than 30 seconds later, Oliff drained a 3-pointer on a pass from May, and a dunk from sophomore
Lleyton Thomas-Johnson pushed the Bears ahead 11-10. A free throw from May made it 12-10 at 13:38.
Down one point following a 3-pointer from IWU's Lawrence, junior
Jake Davis hit a shot from distance, and first-year
Theo Rocca scored off a steal to give the Bears a four-point, 19-15 edge at 11:59.
WashU continued to hold a small lead of as many as five points over the next few minutes until a 6-0 run from the Titans gave them the 25-24 lead at 7:42.
The game went on to be tied at 28 and 30 before May broke the tie with a 3-pointer in the final minute. The Titans closed out the first half with a free throw, sending the Bears into halftime with a 33-31 lead.
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Bears took a seven-point lead following a jumper and a 3-pointer from senior
Calvin Kapral.
WashU continued to hang onto the lead, eventually going up by nine points on a 3-pointer from May, 50-41, with 14:48 on the clock.
The Titans scored eight straight points to cut the Bears' advantage to a single point, 50-49, at 12:18.
The lead continued to change hands back and forth, as the game was tied at 53, 55, 58, and 62.
With 6:44 on the clock and tied at 62, the Titans scored five straight to go up 67-62. An and-one play from Cleveland extended it to a six-point, 70-64 game with 4:40 remaining.
A 3-pointer from Oliff and a layup from Davis closed IWU's advantage to one point, although the Titans would remain ahead by a small margin until eight seconds remaining when a layup from May tied things up at 76-76.
As the seconds ticked down, IWU had two missed chances before Mason Funk had the game-winning putback to give the Titans the win.
In the loss, the Bears outrebounded IWU 41-31.
WashU has a break from competition until Friday, January 2, and Saturday, January 3 when the Bears travel to Holland, Michigan, for a tournament at Hope. They take on the host school on January 2 at 7 p.m. ET, and the University of Olivet on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.
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