Kenosha, Wis. (12/1) — The Thunder men's basketball team faced off against the Calvin College Knights in the first game of the CCIW-MIAA Classic on Friday night, defeating Calvin 73-62. The Classic also features the Carthage College Red Men and the Hope College Flying Dutchmen; the latter of which will face off against the Thunder Saturday. Calvin entered Friday's game ranked tenth in the nation by D3Hoops.com.

Calvin scored the first points of the game, but Wheaton answered with a quick three and never looked back, holding a lead over the Knights from that point on. The first half closed 46-34 in Wheaton's favor. Thunder guard Kent Raymond led the team with 18 points in the half; Michael Fiddler had eight of his nine points on the night in the Thunder's successful start.

The second half showed no real change; the Knights trailed Wheaton throughout, only closing the lead to single-digits twice in the half, nine points each time. The Thunder led 70-59 with just over 45-seconds left to play in the game, and Calvin was forced to foul Raymond, who made the second free throw of the double-bonus. The Knights' Caleb Veldhouse made a three-pointer, but to no avail; the following possession by Wheaton saw Ben Panner at the line, taking the Thunder to a four-possession lead. The game finished with the Thunder on top, 73-62.

Raymond led the Thunder , going 9-for-17 from the field goal and contributing a total of 24 points to the winning effort. Matt Ankeny added 12 points and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Ben Panner was 4-for-7 with 10 points. Raymond and Ankeny both had two steals on the night. Fiddler and Wiele led the team in rebounds, each with six, while Johnnie Standard and Raymond each added five boards.

The team was 14-for-20 from the free throw line and shot 5-for-16, or 31%, from beyond the three-point line; four of the total five three-point goals came in the first half. The team shot 47% from the field on the night.

For the Calvin Knights, Veldhouse was 6-for-14, totaling 16 points, and Derek Griffin and Kyle Snoyeink both added 10 points. Josh Meckes had two steals and Tyler Zoerhof led the team in rebounding with six. Veldhouse was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. The team was 22-for-49, shooting 44% from the floor.