PICTURED ABOVE: Riley Teuscher hit four three-pointers and lead Wheaton in scoring with 12 points.

Kenosha, Wis. - The Thunder men's hoops team wrapped up a stretch of three games in four days by dropping a 66-55 victory to the Hope Flying Dutchmen on Saturday in the CCIW-MIAA Challenge. Wheaton trailed throughout the game and made several runs but could never get the lead in the loss. Wheaton falls to 5-3 on the season while Hope improves to 3-3.

Wheaton struggled from the field, hitting just 32.8% (20-61) of its shots inlcuding only 27.3% (9-33) on three-point attempts. Wheaton made six of its seven free throw attempts. Hope shot 42.6% (20-47) from the field and 50% (6-12) on three-pointers. The Flying Dutchmen made all 20 free throw attempts.

In a game of runs through the first half, Hope jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first six and a half minutes of the game only to see Wheaton score the game's next eight points over a two-minute stretch. Hope answered with an eight-point run of its own and extended it to a 13-2 run to take a 27-16 lead with 6:32 to play in the half. Wheaton responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 29 with 2:31 to play but a late Hope lay-up gave the Flying Dutchmen a 31-29 lead at halftime.

Hope score the first seven points of the second half and held Wheaton without a field goal for the first three and a half minutes of the second half while building a 38-29 lead. Wheaton quickly dismantled that lead with three-pointers by Peter Smith and consecutive three-pointers by Riley Teuscher to tie the game at 38. Hope scored the net seven points to rebuild the lead and were leading 53-44 with six minutes to play before Wheaton went on a quick spurt and a Caleb DeMoss (PICTURED RIGHT) three cut the lead to 53-50 with five minutes to play. That three-pointer would be Wheaton's last field goal until a DeMoss lay-up with 37 seconds to play. Hope used a 7-0 run ot build the lead to 12 and put the game away for the 66-55 victory.

Riley Teuscher led Wheaton in scoring with 12 points off the bench. Brayden Teuscher netted 11 points and Caleb DeMoss and Peter Smith each scored 10 points. Michael Berg grabbed a game-high nine rebounds despite playing through foul trouble. Joe Smith scored four points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench for Wheaton. Ben Gardner led Hope with a game-high 14 points, buoyed by a 10-10 performance at the foul line.

Wheaton will next be in action next Saturday, December 13, when the Thunder travel to face Alma College at 5 PM (EST).