Wheaton, Ill. (1/6) – North Central (9-3/1-0) defeated Wheaton 52-47 on Saturday in the CCIW men's basketball opener for both squads in Wheaton's King Arena. Wheaton, ranked 16th in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25, is now 8-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

Wheaton led 9-7 with 14:45 remaining in the first half when the Cardinals put together a 16-2 run to take a 23-11 lead with 6:00 left before halftime. North Central led the hosts 29-19 at halftime.
The Thunder opened the second half with strong defense and timely scoring to create an 11-4 run to cut the guests' lead to three points at 33-30 with 14:25 left in the game. The Cardinals led 39-32 with 10:45 left in the game when a layup by Wheaton guard Kent Raymond sparked a 13-2 scoring run for the Thunder that gave the hosts a 45-41 lead with 2:55 remaining in the game. However, the Cardinals out-scored Wheaton 11-2 over the final 2:40 of the game as Dan Walton scored five points over the stretch and Anthony Simmons added four points.

Sophomore center Andy Wiele led the Thunder with 11 points and seven rebounds. Raymond returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with an injury and scored 10 points off of the bench. Ben Panner and Phill Denham each scored five points. Michael Fiddler collected seven rebounds and Panner grabbed five boards.

North Central's Adam Krumtinger scored a game-high 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, with five rebounds. Brandon Smith and Reid Barringer each scored eight points for the Cardinals and Simmons added seven points with four rebounds.

Wheaton shot a season-low 32.6% (15-46) from the field, with 13.3% (2-15) from three-point range and 88.2% (15-17) at the free throw line. North Central posted a 42.9% (18-42) field goal percentage, with 38.5% (5-13) from three-point range and 73.3% (11-15) from the charity stripe. North Central out-rebounded the Thunder 30-26 and each team collected nine offensive boards, however the Cardinals out-scored the hosts 11-4 in second chance points.