PICTURED ABOVE: Peter Smith scored a game-high 22 points in Wheatons 63-56 loss to Texas Lutheran on Saturday.

San Antonio, Texas - The Thunder men's basketball team concluded its participation in the Trinity University National Invitational on Saturday afternoon with a 63-56 loss to Texas Lutheran University. Wheaton trailed the Bulldogs 29-21 at halftime and TLU opened the second half with a run, but the Thunder battled back to within four points at the midway point of the second half. That would be the closest Wheaton would get as Texas Lutheran was able to hit big shots down the stretch to improve to 4-5 on the season. Wheaton concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-4 record.

Wheaton struggled from the field, shooting just 30.6% (15-49) from the field including 21.7% (5-23) on three-point attempts. Wheaton was 80.8% (21-26) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs shot 40.5% (17-42) from the field and 21.4% (3-14) from the three-point line while shooting 78.8% (26-33) from the charity stripe. Texas Lutheran won the rebound battle 39-27 including an 11-9 edge in offensive rebounds.

Wheaton scored the game's first five points and led 7-2 after three minutes before the Bulldogs scored eight straight points to take a 10-7 lead. Wheaton briefly retook the lead with a pair of Brayden Teuscher (PICTURED RIGHT) free throws and a Peter Smith lay-up to take a 19-16 lead with seven minutes left in the first half. Texas Lutheran closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 29-21 lead into the locker room.

The Bulldog run continued with six straight points to start the second half to give TLU a 36-21 victory. A three-pointer by Riley Teuscher started the Thunder on an 11-0 run over a span of nearly five minutes that cut the Bulldog lead to 36-32 with 12 minutes remaining. The Bulldogs responded with a 7-2 run to push the lead back into double digits. Wheaton chipped away and cut the lead down to five points at 53-48 with 2:25 to play and had a two good looks at open three-pointers but couldn't convert and Texas Lutheran was able to hold off the charge from the free throw line.

Peter Smith led the Thunder wtih a game-high 22 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks. Brayden Teuscher had 15 points and Michael Berg recorded seven points with four rebounds. Sterling Holmes led the Bulldogs with 16 points while Donte McGee grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Wheaton will be off until January 3, 2015, when the Thunder open CCIW play at R.A. Faganel Hall against the Elmhurst Bluejays at 4 PM.