Memphis - It took four and a half minutes for a goal to be scored as Rhodes College men's lacrosse hosted NCAA Tournament rival Illinois Wesleyan University. The tight game ultimately fell the way of the Titans who scored five of the last eight goals to secure the 16-14 victory.

IWU scored first before Jonathon Hazlehurst tied the game a minute later. The Titans went up 3-1 before the Lynx scored three straight to lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter. IWU scored once more before the quarter ended with a 4-4 tie. Rhodes tied the game 5-5 on a goal by Grant Allen before IWU netted three unanswered goals. Rhodes cut that lead to two when the visiting squad closed the first half with a goal with one second remaining. 

Trailing 11-9, Rhodes took advantage of a non-releasable penalty as Hazlehurst scored two in a row to tie the game to close out the third quarter. Tied at 12 points each, IWU scored twice before Sammy Carter scored his first collegiate goal for Rhodes to pull the Lynx within one with 6:42 to play. Two more IWU goals with 2:42 to go put pressure on the Lynx offense. Another man-up opportunity allowed Carter to score the final goal of the game with 1:14 remaining. 

For the Lynx defense, Tooker Callaway III recorded six caused turnovers and three ground balls while Ethan Frischhertz (eight) and Alexi Thomas (seven) led the Lynx in ground balls. Goalkeeper Brendan Roberts recorded three caused turnovers and three ground balls to go with his 12 saves. 

Offensively, Hazlehurst finished the game with four goals while Christian Cisneros tallied two assists and a goal. Tyler Pellegrino also recorded two assists.

The Lynx are back on Crain Field on Sunday March 21 to open conference play against Birmingham-Southern at 2:30 p.m.