Wheaton, Ill. (12/6) – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team, ranked 24th in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, earned a 112-52 victory at home against Principia College on Wednesday night. Wheaton improves to 5-2 on the season, while Principia falls to 0-5.

Wheaton led the Panthers 25-11 after 10 minutes of play tonight and held a 51-21 lead at halftime. Reserves played a key role for the Thunder tonight as 89 of Wheaton's 112 points were scored by players off of the hosts' bench. Wheaton had 13 of the 14 players that saw action score at least one point in the game.

Sophomore Dave Noell was Wheaton's leading scorer with 22 points, on 8-for-12 shooting from the field with six three-pointers. Freshman Brad Smith recorded a “double-double” with double digits in points and rebounds as he scored 19 points, with 11 rebounds, including four offensive boards. Freshman David Eseke scored 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field, with a 5-for-5 effort from behind the three-point arc. Freshman Jesse Viars scored 11 points. Guard Kent Raymond scored 10 points, with five assists and three steals in nine minutes of action. Thunder junior Phill Denham scored eight points, with six rebounds.

Kyle Johnson scored 20 points, with eight rebounds and four assists to lead Principia. Chris MacWilliams scored 12 points with five rebounds off of the Panthers' bench and Sam Douglas added 11 points.

Wheaton shot 55.6% (40-72) from the field, with 71.4% (15-21) from three-point range and 89.5% (17-19) at the free throw line. Principia posted a 38.8% (19-49) field goal percentage, with 30% (3-10) from three-point range and 61.1% (11-18) from the charity stripe.