BOXSCORE
Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder men’s basketball team won its season-opening Lee Pfund Classic on Saturday night with an 88-72 victory against McMurry University (Texas) in the tournament’s championship game. Ohio Northern defeated Trine 71-63 in the tournament’s consolation game.
Wheaton jumped out to a 16-8 lead after six minutes of play in tonight’s championship game and never looked back as the Thunder held a 49-37 lead at halftime. The Thunder maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half to win its eighth Lee Pfund Classic Championship.
Thunder head coach Mike Schauer, in his first season at the helm of his alma mater noted of his team's effort, "I am very pleased with the effort, for the most part, in both games. I was also pleased, with the play off the bench, particularly in the second game." Schauer added, "But we need to play more consistently to compete night in and night out in our league."
Sophomore Tim McCrary was named the Will Landry Memorial Tournament MVP
Thunder sophomore
Tim McCrary led all scorers with 29 points as he shot 9-for-15 from the field. McCrary also collected six rebounds, with three assists and three steals. The Wheaton forward was recognized as the recipient of the Will Landry Memorial Most Valuable Player Award. Schauer said of the sophomore, "What pleased me about Tim's performance, is that I have challenged him with the responsibility of being a marquee player. I thought that he embraced that responsibility very well this weekend.”
Senior co-captain
Ben Panner scored 17 points, with two assists and two steals, earning All-Tournament honors. Guard
Andrew Jahns scored 19 points, with three steals and senior
Jake Carwell scored 10 points, with a game-high nine rebounds and three assists.
All-Tournament selection Ricky Burney scored 13 points for McMurry. Jeremie Hart led the guests with 16 points and two assists. Tim Harrison added 15 points, with five rebounds.
Wheaton shot a 58.3% (28-48) field goal percentage, with 33.3% (4-12) from three-point range and 82.4% (28-34) at the free throw line. McMurry shot 52.9% from the floor, with 23.1% (3-13) from three-point range and 50% (15-30) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the visitors 32-24 and the Thunder had a 14-5 edge in fast-break points.
VIEW WHEATON-MCMURRY PHOTO GALLERY
Wheaton will face its first road test of the season at Loras College on Tuesday November 24 at 7:30 PM. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on WETN radio, 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at
www.wetn.org.
WILL LANDRY MEMORIAL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD
Tim McCrary, Wheaton
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ben Panner, Wheaton
Ricky Burney, McMurry
Robert Moreno, McMurry
Kyle Meyer, Ohio Northern
Randall Harris, Trine