BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – The top-seeded Wheaton College men's basketball team defeated second-seeded Elmhurst 67-63 on Saturday night in a CCIW Tournament Championship Game in King Arena. As the winner of tonight's Championship game the Thunder has earned the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins on March 5. The NCAA will announce NCAA Tournament pairings at 10 AM (CST) on Monday March 2 in a live online webcast that will be available at www.ncaa.sports.com.

Thunder head coach Bill Harris said of his team's effort, “We try to teach our kids a lot of things. But in the final 10 minutes of the game we executed our half court offense about as well as you can.” He added, “We had some great performances tonight, especially from our upperclassmen. Ben Panner held Ryan Bruks to seven points and on the offensive end BP scored 15. [Kent] Raymond, [Andy] Wiele and [Jake] Carwell all played well tonight.” He concluded, “I can't be more pleased for our kids, they have earned this.”

Wheaton took an early lead with a 2-0 advantage, however, when Elmhurst tied the game at 2-2 with 18:09 left in the first half it would be Wheaton's final lead until the Thunder regained the edge with a 59-58 lead with 2:11 remaining in the game. 

Elmhurst led the Thunder 33-25 at halftime and the Bluejays' lead bulged to as much as 12 points with a 49-37 lead with 10:33 remaining in the game. Elmhurst held a 54-44 lead with 8:10 remaining in the game when a Ben Panner layup ignited a 12-2 Wheaton scoring run to cut the Bluejays' lead to 56-55 with 3:48 remaining in the game. A basket by Elmhurst's Dustin Bainter gave the Bluejays a 58-55 lead with 3:12 left in the game, however, Wheaton's Andy Wiele cut it back to one-point with a basket for a 59-58 lead with 2:46 left in the game.

Two free throws by Thunder forward Jake Carwell with 2:11 left in the game gave Wheaton its first lead since early in the first half with a 59-58 advantage. After a few scoreless possessions Carwell made a momentum-changing play when Panner dished off to the junior under the basket and Carwell dunked the ball for a 61-58 Wheaton lead with 41-seconds remaining in front of a near capacity raucous Wheaton crowd. An Elmhurst turnover on the Bluejays' next possession forced the guests to foul Wheaton and the Thunder went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 30-seconds of the game to close out the win.

Raymond led the Thunder with 24 points, dishing three assists. Wiele was effected underneath with 18 points as he shot 9-for-11 from the field, with five rebounds. Panner scored 15 points, with four assists. Carwell scored seven points, with five assists.

Brent Ruch led Elmhurst with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Robert Strzemp scored 13 points, with three assists. Ryan Burks and Zack Boyd each scored seven points for the Bluejays.
Wheaton compiled a 46% (23-50) field goal percentage, with 38.9% (7-18) from three-point range and 87.5% (14-16) at the free throw line. Elmhurst shot 47.2% (25-53) from the field, with 35.7% (5-14) from three-point range and 66.7% (8-12) at the free throw line. Elmhurst out-rebounded the Thunder 31-25, with a 9-5 edge on the offensive glass. 

Fans can find out who the Thunder will be playing, when the games will be played and where the action will be when the announcement webcast is broadcast on NCAASports.com on Monday morning. The NCAA has announced that the Division III men's selection show should begin at approximately 10:15 AM (CST) on Monday March 2, following the selection show for the Division III women's basketball tournament.

Harris noted after the game of Monday's NCAA Tournament selection announcement, “With the successful season that we have had and the high seed that we have earned I hope that is rewarded. I know that the committee will do the best job that they can.” He added, “I am hopeful that the CCIW gets multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. The league would be deserving.”