Chicago, Ill. (11/29) – The Thunder men's basketball team could not overcome a late second half rally by the University of Chicago on Wednesday night as Wheaton lost an 81-77 decision on the Maroons' homecourt. Wheaton falls to 2-2 on the season as it heads to the CCIW-MIAA Classic this weekend in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hosted by Carthage College. The Thunder will face Calvin College, ranked 10th in this week's D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, on Friday at 6 PM. Wheaton will take on fifth-ranked Hope on Saturday at 2 PM. Both Wheaton games will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org.
Wheaton led the Maroons 38-33 at halftime. Wheaton held a six-point advantage at 56-50 with 12:10 left in the game, when Chicago used a 10-1 run to take a 60-57 lead with 9:50 left in the game. Wheaton countered with a 13-6 run to re-take the lead at 70-66 with 5:33 left in the game.
The Thunder lead remained a four-point edge at 79-75 with 2:10 left in the game when Chicago's Jesse Meyer drained a three-pointer to cut the Wheaton lead to 74-73. Wheaton made one of two free throw attempts on its next trip down the court to take a 75-73 lead, however, Meyer was fouled and made all three of his free throw attempts to give the Maroons a 76-75 lead with 1:30 left in the game. Wheaton was unable to score on its next trip down the court and Chicago's Brandon Woodhead sank a three-pointer with time about to expire on the shot clock to give the hosts a 79-75 lead with 36-seconds left in the game.
Thunder forward Michael Fiddler scored on a put-back of his own shot with 19-seconds left in the game to cut the Maroons' lead to 79-77. Wheaton was forced to foul Chicago with 12-seconds left and the Maroons missed both free throw attempts and Wheaton senior Johnnie Standard collected the defensive rebound to give Wheaton the opportunity to tie the game or take the lead. However, a Thunder three-pointer with five-seconds left fell short and Chicago grabbed the defensive rebound. This time the Maroons made both free throw attempts to secure the 81-77 victory.
Guard Kent Raymond led the Thunder with a career-high 32 points as he was 11-for-19 from the field, including 6-for-8 from three-point range. Raymond also distributed four assists and had two steals. Standard scored 15 points, with eight rebounds, two steals and a game-high seven assists. Fiddler scored 10 points, with five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Ben Panner scored nine points, with three assists and sophomore Andy Wiele scored nine points.
Woodhead led Chicago with 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field. Nate Hainje scored 22 points, with an 8-for-11 effort from the floor. Meyer was the third Chicago player to score 20 or more points, with 21 points, on 6-for-9 shooting from the field.
Wheaton shot 50.9% (29-57) from the field, with 61.5% (8-13) from three-point range and 73.3% (11-15) at the free throw line. Chicago shot a blistering 69.6% (16-23) from the field in the second half to help the hosts to a 59.6% (28-47) field goal percentage in the game. The Maroons shot 57.1% (8-14) from three-point range, with an 81% (17-21) effort at the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded Chicago 29-23, with a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass as Wheaton out-scored the Maroons 20-11 in second-chance points.
