BOXSCORE
Whitewater, Wis. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team (21-7) defeated Loras College (22-7) on Saturday night in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The historic victory means that Wheaton will advance to the Sweet 16 of the Division III Tournament for the first time in the 17-year tenure of head coach Bill Harris. This is also the farthest Wheaton has advanced in a National Tournament since 1959 when the school competed in the NCAA Small College Division. Wheaton will face Whitworth in the Sweet 16 on Friday at a site and time yet to be determined.
Wheaton trailed the Duhawks 40-37 at halftime and Loras held a 66-57 lead with 6:00 left in regulation. Wheaton All-American Kent Raymond made a basket with 5:45 left in the game to ignite a 16-0 scoring run for the Thunder that gave Wheaton a 73-66 lead with 1:50 left in regulation. Raymond and freshman Andrew Jahns (PICTURED RIGHT) combined to score 11 of Wheaton's 16 un-answered points in the run. Jahns drained two consecutive three-pointers to extend Wheaton's lead from 67-66 to 73-66.
Loras' Kyle White scored a layup with 12-seconds left to cut Wheaton's lead to 75-73. Wheaton's Jeremy Berntsen sank one of two free throw attempts with nine-seconds left to give Wheaton a 76-73 lead. A Loras three-point attempt in the closing seconds glanced off the rim and the Duhawks grabbed an offensive rebound, but could not get another shot off.
Harris said of tonight's game, “We just kept battling tonight. These kids know how to compete and have been battle-tested because of the toughness of the CCIW. Even though we were down nine late in the second half they continued to battle back and made a great run.” He added, “Jahns hit some big baskets and Kent played well tonight.”
Raymond led the Thunder with 36 points, including six three-pointers and four assists. Ben Panner (PICTURED LEFT) scored 13 points, with five assists and Andy Wiele scored 12 points, with 15 rebounds and five assists. Jahns scored 12 points, off of four three-pointers.
Five Duhawks' players scored in double digits. White led Loras with 25 points and a team-high six rebounds. Luke Slater scored 12 points, with two assists. Brian Centella and Jake Oeth each scored 11 points, with three assists and Ricky Kolze added 10 points.
Wheaton shot 52.9% (28-53) from the field, with 52.2% (12-23) from three-point range and 61.5% (8-13) at the free throw line. Loras posted a 50.9% (29-57) field goal percentage, with 35% (7-20) from three-point range and 100% (8-8) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Duhawks 29-26, with a 7-5 edge on the offensive glass.
