BOXSCORE
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team, ranked seventh in Division III by D3hoops.com, closed out the regular season on Saturday night with a 70-60 victory against North Central (16-9/8-6 CCIW). With the win, Wheaton is 22-3 overall and 11-3 in CCIW play to finish one game ahead of Elmhurst in the CCIW standings for Wheaton's first CCIW Championship in men's basketball since 1998-99.
Thunder head coach Bill Harris noted after the game, “We have great kids, who at the beginning of the season committed to winning a conference championship and despite some injuries and other obstacles throughout the season they worked hard to get this accomplished. I am very pleased for them.” He concluded, “This is a great team and they have proven that by being able to win one of the best conferences in all of Division III.”
The two teams battled through a tightly contested first half as North Central led the Thunder 32-31 at halftime. A layup by Wheaton's
Andy Wiele opened the second half scoring and gave Wheaton a lead they would never relinquish for the remainder of the game. Wiele's basket was the first of nine un-answered points as the hosts jumped out to a 40-32 lead with 16:15 remaining in the game.
North Central fought hard to whittle Wheaton's lead down to one point at 50-49 with 6:41 left in the game and the Cardinals were as close as a two-point deficit at 55-53 with 5:15 left in regulation. However, Wheaton put together eight consecutive points over a stretch of three minutes to extend its lead to 63-53 with 2:05 remaining in the game. All-American
Kent Raymond scored six points in the 8-0 run. With the Cardinals forced to foul Wheaton in the closing minutes, the Thunder shot 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final minute to secure the victory and the conference title.
Raymond led Wheaton with 29 points and eight rebounds. Harris said of his All-American, “Defensively Kent held Chris Drennan to six points, while scoring 29, which is incredible.” Freshman forward
Tim McCrary shot four-for-six from the field as he scored 12 points, with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Forward
Jake Carwell contributed 11 points, with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Wiele scored 10 points, with eight rebounds and three assists. Guard
Ben Panner rounded out the scoring with eight points and he added three assists.
Mitch Raridon led North Central with 22 points as he shot 7-for-9 from the field, including three three-pointer and adding five assists. Mark Adams came off of the Cardinals' bench to scored 12 points and Matt Rogers scored 10 points, with five assists. Chris Drennan collected nine rebounds, however he was held to six points, as Raymond contributed tremendous defense on North Central's leading scorer.
Wheaton recorded a 49% (25-51) field goal percentage, with one three-pointer and the Thunder shot 79.2% (19-24) at the free throw line. North Central posted a 42.9% (24-56) field goal percentage, with 36.4% (4-11) from three-point range and 100% (8-8) at the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the guests 36-26 as four Thunder players collected six or more rebounds in the game. Wheaton held a 12-8 edge in offensive rebounding as the Thunder out-scored North Central 14-2 in second-chance points.
Wheaton will host the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament next Friday and Saturday in King Arena. The first semifinal will tipoff at 6 PM when #2-seed Elmhurst faces #3-seeded Augustana at 6 PM. Friday's second semifinal will tipoff at 8 PM and will feature the top-seeded Thunder against fourth-seeded North Central. The Championship Game of the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament will be played at 7:30 PM on Saturday between Friday's Semifinal victors, with the tournament champion earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Seats for the tournament will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis and will be available for purchase beginning at 4:30 pm on Friday, February 27 and 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 28. The ticket price is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for seniors, and students. Children under eight-years-old will be admitted for free. Students of CCIW institutions will be admitted for free with valid school identification. No CCIW parent passes or other free passes will be honored and fans must enter through the main doors of Wheaton's Sports and Recreation Complex.