BOXSCORE
Wheaton, Ill. – The fourth-ranked Wheaton College men's basketball team closed out the final day of the CCIW/MIAA Classic with a 91-79 victory on Saturday against Hope College at Home. Wheaton is now a perfect 6-0 on the year and Hope falls to 3-3. In the opening game of the day Carthage defeated Calvin 95-82.
Hope led the Thunder 22-14 with 7:25 left in the first half of today's contest, however, the hosts countered with a 17-4 scoring run to take a 31-26 lead with 2:30 left before halftime Wheaton led Hope 35-31 at halftime of today's finale.
A basket by Hope's Andy Venema cut Wheaton's advantage to just three at 58-55 with 11:13 remaining in the game. Wheaton All-American Kent Raymond responded by making three consecutive three-pointers to give Wheaton nine unanswered points and increase the hosts' lead to 67-55 with 9:43 remaining in the game. The Thunder led by as many as 14 points late in the second half, en route to the 91-79 win.
Raymond scored 34 points, on 9-for-14 shooting from the field with five three-pointers and 11-for-11 at the free throw line. With his superb effort, Raymond passed the tournament's single-game scoring record of 33 points that had been set just one night earlier by Carthage's Steve Djurikovic in a Red Men win against Hope.
Ben Panner (PICTURED RIGHT) scored a season-high 24 points, with four three-pointers and five assists. Senior center Andy Wiele scored 16 points, on 6-for-7 shooting from the field with 13 rebounds. With his effort today, Wiele (PICTURED LEFT) becomes the 38th player in Wheaton history to score 1,000 career points. Freshman forward Tim McCrary scored eight points, with seven rebounds and six assists.
Jesse Reimink scored 27 points to lead Hope, as he made five three-pointers in the game, while Peter Bunn added 10 points. Zach Osburn grabbed 11 rebounds and Will Bowser added eight.
In Saturday's opener, Carthage defeated Calvin 95-82. Djurickovic led Carthage with 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Sean Fendley scored 22 points and Cody Hilton added 15 points for the Red Men. John Mantel led Calvin with 24 points and nine rebounds. Caleb Veldhouse scored 19 points and Matt Veltema added 19.
