Rock Island, Ill. (2/7) - The Wheaton men's basketball team lost a hard-fought game at Augustana, 63-60, on Wednesday night. Augustana improves to 18-4 overall and 9-2 in the CCIW to remain in first place in the league. Wheaton falls to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the CCIW. The Thunder will compete at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday night at 7:30 PM. Saturday's game is the second in a stretch where Wheaton plays four of its final five games on the road.

Wheaton led the Vikings 33-28 at halftime. The Thunder led for the majority of the second half. The guests' biggest lead of the second half was six points on three occasions. Wheaton's last six-point lead was a 52-46 advantage with 7:30 left in regulation. The Vikings then out-scored the Thunder 15-4 to take a 61-56 lead with 1:40 left in the game.

Wheaton senior Johnnie Standard made a basket with 1:30 left in regulation to cut the Vikings' lead to 61-58. A defensive stand by the Thunder on the hosts' next trip down the court gave Wheaton the ball back and Standard made a pair of free throws to cut the Augustana lead to 61-60 with 25-seconds left in regulation. Augustana's Jordan Delp made a pair of free throws to increase the Vikings' lead to 63-60 with 19-seconds left in the game. A Wheaton field goal as the clock wound down fell short and the Vikings escaped with the win.

Raymond led the Thunder with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman Ben Panner scored eight points, with four assists and four steals. John Mohan, Andy Wiele and Michael Fiddler each scored seven points. Standard added six points, with five rebounds and junior Phill Denham played well with six points.

Delp led Augustana with 19 points, with five three-pointers and six rebounds. Drew Wessels scored 14 points, with a game-high eight assists and four steals. Alex Washington and Shaun Rose each scored eight points.

Wheaton shot 40% (22-55) from the field, with 30.8% (4-13) from three-point range and 75% (12-16) at the free throw line. The Vikings posted a 40.4% (21-52) field goal percentage, with 62.5% (5-8) from three-point range and 69.6% (16-23) at the charity stripe. Augustana out-rebounded the Thunder 38-30, with a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass.