PICTURED ABOVE: Caleb DeMoss connected on five three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Thunder to an 85-65 win at Alma on Saturday.

Alma, Mich. - A suffocating second half defense led the way as the Thunder men's basketball turned a two-point halftime advantage into a blowout in an 85-65 victory at Alma College on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton overcame a hoop malfunction in the first half that led to a half hour delay as well as a hot-shooting Scots team to move to 6-3 on the season. Alma falls to 0-7 on the year. Wheaton will next be in action on December 19 when the Thunder travel to San Antonio to face Trinity University (Texas) at 5 PM at the Trinity National Invitational.

Wheaton shot 49% (24-49) from the field in the victory including an impressive 42.3% (11-26) from beyond the three-point line and 89.7% (26-29) from the free throw line. The Scots finished the game shooting 46% (23-50) after shooting 59% in the first half. Alma was just 28.6% (6-21) from the three-point line and made 13-of-17 free throw attempts for a 76.5% clip. Wheaton turned the ball over only eight times in the victory while forcing 15 turnovers. The Thunder outscored Alma 20-10 in points off of turnovers. Alma won the rebounding battle 30-23.

Wheaton got out to an early 6-3 lead but Alma was able to pull even with a dunk to tie the game at 9-9 with 15:22 to play in the half. The dunk also caused a basket malfuction that foced a half hour delays as the rim had to be replaced on the backboard. Alma raced out of the restart of play with a 15-6 run that pushed the lead to 24-15 with 10:18 to play in the first half. Five straight points by Caleb DeMoss later in the half brought Wheaton back to within a point and finally a three-pointer by Riley Teuscher gave Wheaton the lead back at 36-34 with 4:34 to play in the half. The rest of the proved to be a see-saw affair as Wheaton took a 44-42 lead into the halftime break.

Faced with a tie game two minutes into the second half, the Thunder opened the game up with a 13-0 lead over a span of nearly five minutes to take a 61-48 lead with 13:38 to play. Caleb DeMoss sparked the run with a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a three by Brayden Teuscher. Luis Miller closed the run with four straight points. After an Alma free throw with 12:30 remaining, Wheaton ran off 15 straight points and held the Scots scoreless for 6:28 to take a commanding 78-51 lead with 6:55 left in the game. Jonathan Berntsen (PICTURED RIGHT) hit consecutive three-pointers to start the run. Wheaton would go on to lead by as man as 26 in closing out the 85-65 victory.

Caleb DeMoss and Brayden Teuscher each scored 19 points and Michael Berg added 17 points to lead all scorers. Berntsen stuffed the stat line with eight points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds. Peter Smith added four blocks to four points and four rebounds. Scott Nikodemski led the Scots with 16 points.