GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Aaron Garriott led the team with 21 points on Saturday.

St. Louis, Mo. - The Wheaton College men's basketball team lost at Washington (Mo.) University 77-68 on Saturday.

The No. 17-ranked Thunder fell to 7-2. The Bears improve to 7-2.

Washington got up by seven at the half 41-34 thanks to hot shooting from Dylan Richter. Richter tallied 16 points to pace his team to a 57 percent shooting from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Wheaton got 11 first-half points from Aaron Garriott, and pulled within two points midway through the second half. Jeremy Pflederer's jumper made the score 52-50 with 12 minutes left. But the hosts kept the lead and built it into double digits in the closing minutes of the game.

Garriott led the Thunder with 21 points. Tim McCrary tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists before fouling out. Nate Serenius (PICTURED RIGHT) chipped in 12 points off the bench.

Wheaton ended up shooting 25 of 57 from the field (44 percent), 6 of 20 from the three-point arc (30 percent) and 12 of 14 from the free throw stripe (86 percent).

Washington shot 28 of 52 from the field (54 percent), 6 of 14 from three-point range (43 percent) and 15 of 22 from the line (68 percent). Richter finished with 25 points and five treys. Alex Toth tallied 19 points as well.

The Thunder resumes its schedule at the Trinity University (Texas) National Invitational on December 21 and 22.