Decatur, Ill. (1/24) - The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team, ranked 21st in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, was a 71-57 victor at Millikin University (12-5/4-2) on Wednesday night. Tonight's victory was Wheaton's fourth consecutive conference win, following a 0-2 start to the conference schedule. With the win Wheaton improves to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW.

Wheaton never trailed in the game as the guests jumped out to a 20-9 lead with 11:20 remaining in the first half. Millikin cut the Thunder lead to 29-27 with 4:15 in the opening half, however, that was as close as the Big Blue would get for the remainder of the contest. Wheaton held a 37-31 lead at halftime and the Thunder scored the first five points of the second half to take an 11-point advantage at 42-31 early in the final half. Wheaton remained in control throughout the second half, leading by as much as 17 points.

Five Thunder players scored in double digits tonight in a balanced offensive effort. Junior Kent Raymond scored a game-high 18 points, with three three-point field goals. Sophomore center Andy Wiele shot 7-for-10 from the field to score 15 points and he added eight rebounds. Freshman guard Ben Panner was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, with 12 points. Senior Johnnie Standard scored 10 points with four steals and junior John Mohan scored 10 points.

Zach Ott came off the Millikin bench to lead the Big Blue with 14 points, on a 4-for-4 shooting effort from the field. Sophomore Drew Gensler scored 12 points and Mike Gavic added nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from behind the three-point arc.

Wheaton had a field goal percentage of 59.2% (29-49) on the night, including a sparkling effort of 68.2% (15-22) in the second half. The Thunder shot 35.3% (6-17) from the three-point range and 63.6% (7-11) from the free throw line. Millikin shot 47.6% (20-42) from the floor, with 38.5% (5-13) from three-point range and 75% (12-16) from the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 19-18 edge in rebounding, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass.