NEW YORK, N.Y. – Illinois Wesleyan University's Noah Cleveland registered 22 points and 11 rebounds and the Titans claimed a 69-57 win over the Hamilton College Continentals at Yeshiva University's Max Stern Athletic Center on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 31.

Season Update

• Hamilton (2-9 overall) played its first game since Dec. 13, and its second neutral site game of the season.
• Illinois Wesleyan (9-3), which is 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), won its third straight non-conference game.

How It Happened

• Hamilton jumped out to an 11-3 lead with 14:50 remaining in the first half. Matthew Rideout '27 sank a midrange jumper and a 3-pointer in the first five minutes of the contest, while Garret Keyhani '26 recorded four of Hamilton's first six points in his first game back since the season opener against Ithaca on Nov. 15.
• Illinois Wesleyan then went on a 12-2 run over the next 5:31 of game action to take its first lead of the game at 15-13. Cleveland and Jackson Niego both knocked down a 3-pointer for the Titans during the stretch.
• Hamilton went on a 9-0 run between the 5:50 and 3:31 marks in the first half and established a 25-19 advantage. Omar Kulenovic '28 began the run with a layup and capped it with a 3-pointer.
• The Titans scored the final 10 points of the first half and took a 29-25 lead at the intermission.
• Will Holmes '27 and Rideout converted back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the second half, giving the Continentals a 31-29 lead with 18:31 remaining.
• The Titans responded with a 13-0 run over the next 5:05 of game action to open up a double-digit lead.
• 3-pointers from Kulenovic and Jalen Reese '27 sandwiched a layup from Cleveland and trimmed Hamilton's deficit to 44-37 with 12:02 remaining in the second half.
• Karlo Colak and Cleveland drained consecutive triples for the Titans to extend their lead to 52-39 with 10:08 left.
• Illinois Wesleyan took its largest lead of 15 at 56-41 with 9:07 remaining in the second half following a fastbreak dunk by Mason Funk.
• Hamilton scored the next five points via a 3-pointer from Max Murash '28 and a layup from Jack Stowell '27.
• Hamilton cut its deficit to nine at 63-54 with 4:40 remaining following a jumper from Rideout. Illinois Wesleyan scored the next four points out of the timeout, and held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.

 

 Notes

• Rideout finished with a team-high 14 points and a team-high three assists.
• Kulenovic scored a career-high eight points with a career-best two made 3-pointers.
• Reese pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds.
• Keyhani added seven points, four rebounds and a team-high two steals.
• Hamilton totaled a season-low 12 points in the paint. The Continentals shot 8-of-33 from 3-point range.
• Illinois Wesleyan limited the Continentals to nine offensive rebounds, marking just the second time this season that Hamilton did not grab at least 10 offensive boards. Hamilton ranks fourth in the NESCAC with 15.1 offensive rebounds per game.
• Cleveland led all players with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Colak and Funk provided 11 points each, and Funk added a game-high four steals.
• Niego distributed a game-high eight assists.

 

Next Game

Hamilton will host SUNY Morrisville (2-6) on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 3 p.m.