GAME STATS
Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team defeated Illinois Wesleyan 87-66 on Saturday night in the Championship Game of the 2014 CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament. The Wheaton win earns the Thunder the CCIW's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The NCAA will announce pairings and selections on Monday at 11:30 AM (CST) at
ncaa.com.
The tournament title is the second CCIW Tournament Championship for Wheaton, with the program's other championship coming in 2009. Wheaton is now 19-8 on the year and Illinois Wesleyan falls to 23-4 on the season.
Wheaton senior
Tyler Peters (PICTURED LEFT) shot 7-of-11 from the field and 13-of-14 from the free throw line tonight. The Thunder All-American led all scorers with 29 points and he also contributed game-highs of 10 rebounds and eight assists spectacular all-around effort.
Senior
Nate Haynes (PICTURED RIGHT) scored 16 points, with six rebounds.
Peter Smith registered 14 points and
Tad Fisher scored 12 points off the Thunder bench.
The first half opened as a closely contested battle as the Thunder led 16-15 with 11:22 remaining before halftime. Wheaton put together a critical 16-5 scoring run that increased the guests' lead to 32-20 with 6:40 remaining in the first half. Wheaton utilized that run to own a 48-27 lead at halftime.
The Thunder shot a spectacular 69.2% (18-26) from the field in the first half, with 66.7% (6-9) behind the three-point arc and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Wheaton matched its offensive effort with a strong defense that held the Titans to just 9-of-23 (39.1%) shooting in the first half. Peters led the Thunder with 14 points and seven assists in the first half. Haynes shot 4-of-5 from the field in the first 20 minutes to score 10 points and
Peter Smith (PICTURED LEFT) added nine points.
Wheaton maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half en route to the commanding victory.
The Thunder shot 55.6% (25-45) from the field, with a 50% (7-14) effort from three-point range and 90.9% (30-33) at the charity stripe. Illinois Wesleyan shot 48.9% (23-47) from the field, with 31.3% (5-16) behind the three-point arc and 55.6% (15-27) at the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the Titans 34-19 on the evening.
Dylan Overstreet led Illinois Wesleyan with 15 points and Andrew Ziemnik scored 13 points for the hosts.
NOTE WORTHY: Tonight's win was the 100th victory at Wheaton for Thunder head coach
Mike Schauer...Illinois Wesleyan's 66 points tonight is the lowest point total for the Titans this season...Peters' 29 points moves him into 16th place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list with 1,489 career points…Peters now has 547 points this season, which is 16th on Wheaton's single-season scoring list.
