GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Tyler Peters scored 19 points, with eight rebounds and eight assists.
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team extended its win streak to six games on Saturday night with a 73-48 victory against Millikin University (7-14/1-9 CCIW) at home. Wheaton is now 16-6 overall and 9-2 in conference play. The Thunder will travel to North Park on Wednesday night for a 7 PM tipoff with the Vikings.
Wheaton never trailed in tonight's win against the Big Blue, as the Thunder built a 16-4 lead in the first 7:30 of action. Wheaton led 26-17 with 7:25 left in the first half when Millikin put together a 10-3 run to trim the Thunder advantage to 29-27 with 2:55 remaining before halftime. Wheaton responded by scoring the final seven points of the first half as the hosts owned a 36-27 lead at halftime.
Wheaton out-scored the guests 12-4 in the first 4:30 of the second half to increase its lead to 48-31 with 15:30 remaining in regulation. The Thunder remained in control throughout the second half, out-scoring Millikin 37-21 after the halftime intermission. Wheaton senior
Tyler Peters scored 11 points in the second half and he added seven rebounds, with six assists.
Peters led all players with 19 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and he was 7-of-8 at the free throw line. The Thunder All-American also distributed eight assists and collected eight rebounds.
Nate Haynes (PICTURED LEFT) registered his fourth consecutive "double-double" with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Haynes was a force on the offensive glass with five offensive rebounds. The Thunder senior was 4-for-6 from the field.
Brayden Teuscher (PICTURED RIGHT) scored 11 points, with five assists and two steals. Senior
Tad Fisher contributed nine points, draining a trio of three-pointers.
Joel Smith added eight points and five rebounds. Junior
Peter Smith grabbed eight rebounds.
Wheaton shot 41.7% (25-60) from the field, with 25% (7-28) from three-point range and 72.7% (16-22) at the free throw line. The Thunder out-rebounded Millikin 50-24, including a commanding 19-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Millikin posted a 37.5% (18-48) field goal percentage, with 41.7% (5-12) behind the three-point arc and 43.8% (7-16) at the free throw line.
Tives Gardner led Millikin with 14 points and four assists. Elijah Kinmon scored nine points off the Big Blue bench. Brody Bence and Brennan Coltrane each contributed eight points for the guests. Bence and Coltrane each grabbed a team-best five rebounds for Millikin.
Note Worthy: Wheaton's current string of six consecutive conference wins is the longest win streak in CCIW play for the Thunder since a seven-game streak in 2008-09…
Nate Haynes moved into 12th place on Wheaton's career rebounding list with 615 boards in his four seasons…
Tyler Peters now has 1,392 career points and is just eight points shy of becoming the 25th player in school history with 1,400 career points.
