BOXSCORE
Chicago, Ill. - The Wheaton men's basketball team lost 75-73 in overtime at North Park on Saturday night. Wheaton is now 10-5 overall, with a 2-2 record in CCIW play. North Park is 9-6 on the season with a 3-1 league record. The Thunder will host nationally-ranked Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday night at 7:30 PM in King Arena.
Tonight's tightly contested battle saw 21 lead changes and it was tied on five occasions, including a 29-29 tie at halftime.
Wheaton led 58-51 with 4:00 remaining in regulation when the Vikings scored eight unanswered points to take a 59-58 lead with two minutes left in the second half. The two teams would later trade baskets for a 61-60 North Park lead with 51-seconds remaining in regulation. With 32-seconds left in regulation North Park hit one of two free throw attempts to give the hosts a 62-60 lead.
Wheaton was unable to score on its ensuing trips down the court and with 3.7-seconds left Wheaton was forced to foul. North Park missed the free throw attempt and Wheaton's
Jake Carwell came down with the rebound and called timeout with 2.9-seconds remaining. Wheaton senior
David Eseke in-bounded the ball from underneath the Viking basket and his long pass found
Tim McCrary who slipped past a Viking defender to lay the ball up as time expired to tie the game at 62-62 and sent it into overtime.
McCrary scored the first basket of the overtime to give Wheaton a 64-62 lead. On North Park's next trip down the court, the Vikings made a three-pointer to take a 65-64 lead with 4:15 remaining in the overtime. The hosts never trailed after that point in the overtime.
McCrary scored a game-high 28 points with 11 rebounds, and six assists.
Ben Panner contributed 16 points, with five rebounds.
Jake Carwell shot 7-of-10 from the field to score 14 points. He also grabbed five rebounds and had five steals in a strong overall performance.
Roshawn Russell led North Park with 22 points and five assists. Shaun Collins scored 16 points and Emmanuel Crosby contributed 11 points, with five rebounds.
Wheaton recorded a 45.6% (31-68) field goal percentage, with 29.4% (5-17) from three-point range and 66.7% (6-9) at the free throw line. The Vikings shot 49.1% (26-53) from the floor, with 37.5% (6-16) from three-point range and 70.8% (17-24) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Vikings 38-33, with a 13-6 edge on the offensive glass.
