Lisle built a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against Wheaton Academy and had to hold on and make its free throws to seal a 59-50 boys basketball victory.

The Warriors cut the Lions’ lead to 51-49 with a little over three minutes to play, but Lisle closed the game on an 8-1 run and made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:16.

Free-throw shooting down the stretch, defense and taking care of the ball allowed the Lions (18-6) to walk away with a win.

“We spend the last 15 minutes of practice shooting free throws,” Lisle’s Dan Wenclawski said. “Tonight all the hard work when we are tired in practice paid off for us.”

Lisle picked up its defensive intensity in the second quarter. It didn’t allow Wheaton Academy to get open looks at the basket. It took the Warriors more than five minutes in the second quarter to score.

The solid defense in the first half allowed the Lions to build a 32-21 lead.

“We play hard and play good defense,” Lisle coach Mark D’Amico said. “We were able to jam the middle up and we stayed up on their shooters. We forced them to shoot with hands in their faces in the second quarter.”

Wheaton Academy, which hit 10 3-pointers in the game, was outrebounded 29-18 for the game. Lisle center Joel Beckman finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

“He is just a punk in a good way,” Wheaton Academy coach Andy Euler said. “He’s just a bruiser and rebounded really well tonight.”

In the fourth quarter the game got interesting as Wheaton Academy went on a 9-0 spurt in 1:37 and eventually cut the lead to 2 points before Lisle was able to pull away for good.

D’Amico was upset with his players for taking ill-advised shots in the fourth quarter. He said they settled for too many outside shots instead of waiting for a layup or going to the foul line.

“We built our lead and we hung on tonight,” D’Amico said. “I was disappointed we gave the ball and possessions away in the fourth. We did a nice job down the stretch and finished the game up, though.”

Lisle had a balanced scoring attack that featured three players reaching double figures. Wenclawski scored a game-high 16 points, while Matt Schmitz and Ryan Husch both pitched in with 12 points apiece.

Jeremy Parker and Benjamin Euler scored 13 and 11 points, respectively for Wheaton Academy (12-11).