WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University Men's Basketball concluded play in the Webster Classic here Saturday afternoon by suffering a 77-62 setback at the hands of 19th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan in front of nearly 600 fans in Grant Gymnasium. 

With the setback, Webster falls to 4-2 overall on the season and 11-9 all-time in the 10th-Annual Webster Classic. Illinois Wesleyan improved to 6-0 on the season.

In Saturday's loss, which was the first at home this season for the Gorloks, Webster had three players score in double figures led by junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton), who finished with 17 points, while junior guard Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) tallied a career-high 15 points and junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) chipped in with 13 points. Johnson and Tankins each earned a spot on the Webster Classic All-Tournament Team. 

The Titans, who are the third of four teams Webster is playing this season that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, used a 23-10 run over a span of nearly 10 minutes in the second half to turn a close game into a runaway as they extended its lead from 50-41 to 73-51. The run came after the Johnson drilled a trey to pull the Gorloks within nine at 50-41 with 14:20 left in the game. 

Johnson's trey completed a 7-0 run for Webster than began with back-to-back baskets by Tankins and ended with Johnson's trey. Johnson hit four of WU's five 3-pointers in the game. The five treys came one night after the Gorloks were held without a three-pointer in its 71-61 win over the University of the Ozarks for the first time since the Greenville game on  Jan. 21, 2017. 

IWU's run was aided by a combined 11 points from Charlie Blair (6 points) and Jason Gregoire (5 points) and capped by a dunk from Alex O'Neill with 4:08 left in the game. Gregorie, who was one of two Titans to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team, finished with a team high 13 points, including scoring seven of those points after halftime.

Following IWU's run, the Gorloks would outscore the Titans, 11-4, over the final four minutes of the game to cut the final margin to 15 points. WU's closing run began with a three-point play thanks to a lay-up and free throw by Johnson and was capped with a basket by freshman forward Michael Suiter (Bernie, Mo./Bernie) with 25 seconds left in the contest. 

In addition to Gregoire's 13 points, Blair added 12 points and Collin Bonnett finished with 11 points. The Tittans fourth double-digit scorer was Grant Wolfe as he had 10 points off the bench. IWU held a 25-10 edge in bench points for the game. 

The Gorloks held IWU senior All-American guard Brady Rose to a season low eight points as he was 3-for-9 from the field, including going 2-for-6 from downtown. Rose, though, was named the MVP of the Webster Classic after scoring 22 points in IWU's 95-61 win on Friday over Westminster (Mo.) College. Rose entered the game averaging over 27 points per game on the season. 

IWU jumped out to a 21-11 lead just nine minutes into the game, before the Gorloks used a 6-3 run to pull within 24-17 following a lay-up by Hopp with 8:11 left in the opening half. The Titans would respond with a 15-9 run to push its lead to 39-26 with 57 seconds left in the first half.

Webster, though, would score the final four points of the half thanks to lay-ups in the final 35 seconds of the half by Hopp and junior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) to cut IWU's lead to 39-30 at the half. Johnson and Hopp each scored eight points apiece in the first half.

For the game, Webster shot 43 percent from the field and 29 percent (5-for-17) from the 3-point line, while IWU shot 52 percent from the floor and 44 percent (8-for-18) from the 3-point line. 

The Titans outrebounded the Gorloks, 36-29, but WU held a 17-13 edge in points off turnovers as IWU committed 13 turnovers in the win. The Gorloks had 14 turnovers as they had seven in each half.

IWU finished the game with eight blocked shots as WU was outblocked for the second time this season. WU blocked three shots in game, including two by sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial). 

After shooting and making a season high free throws in Friday's win over Ozarks, Webster shot just nine free throws and made five of them in Saturday's game. Against Ozarks, Webster was 27-for-36 at the line. IWU finished 7-for-13 at the line. 

The other members of the All-Tournament Team were Westminster's Romo Tabb and Ozarks' Kelvin Knight. Tabb scored 21 points and 13 rebounds in the Blue Jays' 76-70 win in Saturday's other game against Ozarks. In that game, Knight scored 10 points and had seven boards for the Eagles. 

Webster will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 28 as they travel down Big Bend Avenue for first of two meetings this season in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with Fontbonne University. Tip-off for Wednesday's league opener is set for 7:30 p.m.