NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The 2026-27 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men’s basketball season got underway this past weekend, with most CCIW teams making their debuts. Perhaps no start to the season was better than the opening two games from Millikin University. On Tuesday, grad student Lane Thomann was named CCIW Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for his role in the Big Blue’s 2-0 road trip.

Facing off this weekend with teams picked second in the American Rivers Conference and the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, respectively, Millikin made an early statement in Tom Noonan’s first games in charge of the program. Thomann scored 16 points in the first half against the University of Dubuque on Friday night, staking the Big Blue to a 15-point halftime lead that eventually turned into an 81-71 win over the Spartans. Thomann ended the night with a game-high 24 points and added eight rebounds and five assists.

Facing Aurora University on Saturday afternoon, Thomann was scoreless in the first half, then exploded for 17 points in a nine-minute span of the second half to help Millikin ease away for a 96-74 romp in a true road game.

Following an exhibition contest against the University of Illinois Springfield on Monday night, Millikin will return to action on Friday with a trip to take on No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis at 7 p.m.

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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), Carroll University (Waukesha, Wis.), Carthage College (Kenosha, Wis.), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, Ill.), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.), Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.), North Central College (Naperville, Ill.), North Park University (Chicago, Ill.) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.).