BOXSCORE

Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team earned a 65-59 victory at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday night to accomplish a regular season sweep of the Titans. Wheaton is now 16-7 on the year, with an 8-4 record in conference play. Illinois Wesleyan, ranked 23rd in this week's d3hoops.com Top-25, is 18-5 this season, with a 9-3 CCIW record.

The Thunder used a strong late run in the first half to lead at halftime. Wheaton held a 20-19 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half when the put together a 10-4 scoring run to close out the half, giving Wheaton a 30-23 lead at halftime.

Illinois Wesleyan countered early in the second half, as the hosts used an 11-3 run to briefly held a one-point lead at 34-33 with 12:00 remaining in regulation. A three-point basket by Thunder senior Ben Panner gave Wheaton a 36-34 lead with 11:15 remaining in the game and Panner's trifecta was the start of three consecutive field goals for the 'Orange and Blue' to extend Wheaton's lead to 39-34 with 9:45 left in the game.

Wheaton's largest lead of the second half was an eight-point advantage at 54-46 with 3:25 remaining in the game. The Titans used a 7-1 run to cut the Thunder lead to 55-53, when Wheaton senior Jake Carwell drained a three-pointer with the shot clock running out to extend his team's lead to 58-53. Wheaton was 7-for-10 at the free throw line in the final 1:30 of the game to emerge with its second consecutive road victory.

Panner led the Thunder with 21 points in the game and the senior's strong defense in the game was evident as Titan guard Sean Johnson was held scoreless on the evening. Thunder head coach Mike Schauer noted after tonight's win, “Ben made some tough plays tonight. He often gets overlooked because he played with Kent Raymond for three years and this season Tim McCrary is having a great year, but people should know that Ben is a special player.”

McCrary scored 18 points, with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. Carwell came off the Thunder bench to score 14 points, on six-for-eight shooting from the floor. Andrew Jahns scored six points, with five rebounds and Stephen Pierotti collected six rebounds for the guests.

Duncan Lawson led Illinois Wesleyan with 13 points and nine rebounds. John Koschnitzky scored 11 points and Doug Sexauer added 10 points, with five rebounds for the hosts.

Wheaton shot 35.8% (19-53) from the field, with 31.3% (5-16) from three-point range and 81.5% (22-27) at the free throw line. Illinois Wesleyan posted a 41.2% (21-51) field goal percentage, with 31.3% (5-16) behind the three-point line and 70.6% (12-17) at the charity stripe. Illinois Wesleyan held a 34-33 edge in rebounding and the Thunder owned a 13-12 advantage on the offensive glass. The Titans committed 13 turnovers tonight, helping Wheaton out-score the hosts 16-6 off of turnovers.

Wheaton will close out the home portion of its regular season schedule on Wednesday night with a 7:30 PM contest against Millikin in King Arena. Wednesday's game will be “Senior Night”, as Thunder seniors Jake Carwell, David Eseke, Jeff Lake, Ben Panner and Jesse Viars will be honored prior to the game.