BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder men's basketball team, ranked 18th in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top-25 poll, earned a hard-fought 70-63 victory against North Park tonight in King Arena. Tonight's win marked Wheaton's ninth consecutive victory against the Vikings. Wheaton improves to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in league play. North Park falls to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the CCIW.

Wheaton led the Vikings 37-31 at halftime of tonight's contest. The Thunder continued to lead throughout the second half, holding a 56-47 advantage with 8:30 left in regulation. The Vikings went on to score eight unanswered points to cut the Wheaton lead to one point at 56-55. The Thunder lead was 62-59 with 1:07 left in the game when Wheaton freshman Andrew Jahns drained a three-pointer to extend the hosts' lead to 65-59. Wheaton would go on to make five free throws in the final minute to close out the 70-63 victory.

Sophomore Ben Panner (PICTURED RIGHT) scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, including 5-for-7 from three-point range. Jahns contributed career-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds. The rookie had an impressive night, shooting 5-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-5 from behind the three-point arc. Junior center Andy Wiele scored 13 points, on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor, with 12 rebounds and five assists. Tonight's effort was Wiele's ninth “double-double” of the year, tallying double digits in both points and rebounds. Senior co-captain Kent Raymond scored 13 points, with five assists.

Jay Alexander led North Park with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals off of the bench. Joe Capalbo, Nick Williams and Antonio Stevens each contributed 10 points. Williams added six rebounds.
Wheaton shot 61% (25-41) from the field, with 52.9% (9-17) from three-point range and 61.1% (11-18) at the free throw line. North Park tallied a 40% (24-60) field goal percentage, with 33.3% (6-18) from three-point range and 75% (9-12) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the guests 36-20; however, North Park held a 9-8 edge on the offensive glass.

Wheaton will travel to Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday in a 7:30 PM tipoff against the Titans that will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org. Live statistics of Wednesday's game will be provided by Illinois Wesleyan at this LINK.