Wheaton, Ill. (1/31) - The Wheaton men's basketball team snapped Carthage College's four-game winning streak on Wednesday night as the Thunder earned a 71-67 victory at home. Wheaton is now 13-6 overall and 5-3 in CCIW play. Carthage, ranked 17th in this week's D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, is 13-6 overall and 4-4 in the CCIW. Tonight's victory marked Wheaton's fourth win against a nationally ranked team this season.

Tonight's game was a back-and-forth battle with 14 lead changes and the score was tied on five occasions. Carthage led 28-26 at halftime. The guests' biggest lead of the game was a 53-45 Red men advantage with 8:05 remaining in regulation. With 7:40 remaining in the game Wheaton's Kent Raymond made a field goal, followed by a Carthage turnover and then Wheaton senior Johnnie Standard buried a three-pointer, sparking a 17-4 Wheaton scoring run over a span of 4:10. The run gave Wheaton a 62-57 lead with 3:25 remaining in regulation. Standard and Raymond each scored seven points in the hosts' scoring surge, as the duo combined to scored 14 of Wheaton's 17 points in the run. Carthage cut Wheaton's lead to three points on four different occasions in the final three minutes of the game, but the Thunder held off the guests for the 71-67 victory.

Raymond led Wheaton with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and four assists. Standard scored 20 points thanks to an 8-for-11 effort from the floor and nine rebounds. Junior John Mohan scored 14 points, with a 9-for-9 performance at the free throw line and he added three steals. Senior Michael Fiddler scored eight points.

Freshman Sean Fendley led Carthage with 15 points, shooting 6-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc. Trey Bowens added 12 points and Brian Schlemm scored 11 points, with eight rebounds. Billy Jacklin collected a team-high nine rebounds for the Red Men and Joe Higgins distributed a game-high nine assists.

Wheaton shot 46.9% (23-49) from the field, with 33.3% (4-12) from three-point range and 95.5% (21-22) from the free throw line. Carthage posted a 53.1% (26-49) field goal percentage, with 46.2% (6-13) from three-point range and 69.2% (9-13) from the free throw line. Carthage out-rebounded Wheaton 28-23, with a 13-11 edge on the offensive glass.