Second half surge give #23-Thunder men a 67-55 win at Elmhurst

GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Spencer Schultze scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field.

Elmhurst, Ill. - The Thunder men's basketball team defeated Elmhurst College 67-55 on Saturday night on the Bluejays' homecourt at R.A. Faganel Hall. The Thunder used a late second-half scoring run to secure the key conference road win. Wheaton is now 10-3 on the year, with a 1-1 conference record. The Bluejays fall to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Thunder will host Millikin on Tuesday night for a 7:30 PM tipoff in King Arena.

Elmhurst led early in the contest, as the Bluejays held a 27-20 lead with 4:20 left in the first half. Wheaton closed out the opening half with a 10-2 run that allowed the Thunder to hold a 30-29 lead at halftime.

The first 12 minutes of the second half were tightly contested, with the Bluejays holding a 44-43 lead with 8:10 left in the game. Nate Serenius (PICTURED RIGHT) hit a three-pointer to spark a 13-3 Wheaton run that gave the guests a 56-47 lead with 4:25 left in the game. Serenius hit three trifectas in the key run to give the Thunder the key lead that secured the win.

Spencer Schultze led the Thunder with a game-high 23 points and he added five rebounds. Schultze shot 9-for-11 from the field in the contest. Tim McCrary# (PICTURED LEFT) added 22 points, with seven rebounds and three assists. Serenius' three three-pointers in the key run were part of his 13-point output. The trio of Schultze, McCrary and Serenius combined to score 58 of Wheaton's 67 points in the game.

Zack Boyd led Elmhurst with 20 points and D'Ante Foster added 15 points with five assists for the hosts. Nick Sanford grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Bluejays.

Wheaton recorded a 50% (26-52) field goal percentage with 23.1% (3-13) from three-point range and 70.6% (12-17) at the free throw line. The Bluejays shot 35.8% (19-53) from the field, including just 29% (7-24) in the second half. The host made 29.4% (5-17) from behind the three-point arc and shot 80% (12-15) at the charity stripe. Each team gathered 33 rebounds, with Elmhurst holding an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass. Elmhurst's 18 turnovers in the game helped aid the Thunder to a 25-12 edge in points off of turnovers.

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