ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team improved to 15-3 on the season after holding on to edge Illinois Wesleyan 76-73 at R.A. Faganel Hall.

Elmhurst, ranked 22nd in the latest D3hoops.com poll, built a 15-point cushion in the second half, but needed a defensive stop late to preserve the victory. The Bluejays upped their CCIW record to 5-2 with the win.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured eight lead changes and four ties. Both teams led by as many as five points at one time. The Titans led 11-6 with five minutes gone by after a three-pointer from Alec Bausch. Elmhurst answered back with a 16-6 run over the next seven minutes, grabbing a five-point lead at 22-17 after a Pat Coleman jumper. A pair of free throws from Dylan Overstreet with 3:41 left gave Illinois Wesleyan a 27-26 lead and capped a 10-4 by the Titans. The Bluejays outscored the Titans 5-3 over the finals 3:41 to lead 31-30 at the half.

With the score even at 38-38 early in the second half, Elmhurst rattled off a 9-0 run to grab a 47-38 lead with 15:22 remaining. The Titans sliced the Bluejays' lead down to five with 10 minutes left, but Elmhurst used a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to grab a 15-point lead after Erik Crittenden's two-handed dunk off a feed from Bryant Ackerman.

Illinois Wesleyan (13-5, 5-2 CCIW) slowly chipped the Bluejays' lead down eight points, but a Crittenden jumper gave Elmhurst a 10-point advantage with four minutes left on the clock. Elmhurst led 71-62 with 2:35 left, but the Titans used a furious run to close to within a point. Three-pointers from Jordan Nelson, Bryce Dolan and Dylan Overstreet fueled an 11-3 run and brought the Titans to within a point at 74-73 with just 30 seconds left on the clock.

The Bluejays split a pair of free throws to take a 75-73 lead with 19 seconds left, giving the Titans a chance to tie the game. Overstreet's jumper in the lane was no good and Eric Leonard collected the rebound and raced down court, winding seconds off the clock before he was fouled with 1.2 seconds left. Leonard hit one of two free throws to seal the 76-73 win for the Bluejays.

Elmhurst shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field, including 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from downtown. The Bluejays struggled from the foul line, hitting just 63.3 percent (19-of-30) of its attempts. Elmhurst protected the ball, committing just eight turnovers, the team's second-lowest total of the season.

Kyle Wuest totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double and pace the Bluejays in the victory. Ackerman chipped in with 11 points while Crittenden came off the bench to score 10. Pat Coleman added nine while Will Nixon scored eight points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds in the victory.

Illinois Wesleyan shot just 39.3 percent from the floor (24-of-61) and attempted over half of its shots from three-point range. The Titans connected on 11-of-31 attempts (35.5 percent) from beyond the arc while shooting 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the foul line.

Nelson led the Titans in the loss with 17 points, shooting 5-of-13 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from downtown. Overstreet added 13 points but shot just 3-of-10 from the floor. He added a game-high eight assists in the loss. Alec Bausch came off the bench to score 11 and collect seven rebounds while Pat Sodeman scored nine for the Titans.

Elmhurst snapped a 10-game series losing streak to the Titans with the victory, recording its first victory over Illinois Wesleyan since the 2009 season.

Elmhurst hosts Augustana College on Wednesday, January 28.