BOXSCORE

Kenosha, Wis. - The #14-ranked Thunder men's basketball team dropped its CCIW opener on Wednesday night with a 75-62 loss at Carthage College. Wheaton is now 8-4 overall and 0-1 in CCIW play, while Carthage is 9-3 this season with a 1-0 mark in league play.

Carthage led the Thunder 35-32 at halftime of tonight's contest. The Red Men held a 40-37 lead with 16:30 left in the second half when the hosts put together an 8-2 run to take a 48-39 lead with 13:32 left in the game. The Red Men never led by less than seven points after that point and Carthage's biggest lead of the game was a 19-point advantage at 73-54 with 2:55 remaining in the game.

Thunder forward Tim McCrary led the visitors with 29 points and four assists. Ben Panner scored eight points, with four assists and Andrew Jahns scored seven points.

Senior Steve Djurickovic led Carthage with 29 points and seven assists. Max Cary scored 13 points and Tyler Pierce contributed eight points, with a team-high six rebounds.

Wheaton shot 44.4% (20-45) from the field, with 50% (4-8) from three-point range and 90% (18-20) at the free throw line. Carthage posted a 57.7% (30-52) field goal percentage, including 80% (16-20) in the second half. The Red Men shot 53.8% (7-13) from three-point range and 88.9% (8-9) at the charity stripe. Carthage out-rebounded the Thunder 29-19, with an 11-8 edge on the offensive glass.

The Thunder will host North Central on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 PM in King Arena. There will be reception, that is open to the public, honoring retired head coach Bill Harris from 3-4:30 in Wheaton's Sports and Recreation Complex and Harris will recognized at halftime of Saturday's game as well.