GAME STATS
Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team had its season ended on Friday night in an 81-71 loss to Dickinson College (24-6) in the Sectional Semifinal of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Red Devils advance to the NCAA Division III Sectional Final on Saturday night at 7 PM. Wheaton ends the year 21-9, marking its third consecutive season with 20 or more wins.
Wheaton head coach
Mike Schauer said of the game, "I thought Dickinson played fantastic tonight. They physically dominated us for stretches of the game." He continued, "I was disappointed with our first half. In many ways I thought we lost the basketball game tonight in the first half. We put ourselves in a hole at halftime and we couldn't quite get a possession or two to get ourselves back within one or two possessions".
Wheaton shot 33.9% (21-62) from the field, with 31.8% (7-22) from three-point range and 84.6% (22-26) at the charity stripe. The Red Devils shot a 49.2% (29-59) field goal percentage with 20% (2-10) from three-point range and 75% (21-28) at the free throw line. Dickinson out-rebounded the Thunder 41-34 and Wheaton held a 12-10 edge on the offensive glass.
Gerry Wixted led the Red Devils with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Adam Honig scored 17 points and Ted Hinnekamp added 10 points with five rebounds off the Red Devils' bench.
The first half was tightly contested with four ties and four lead changes. The Thunder led 23-22 with 5:30 remaining in the first half when the Red Devils put together a 10-3 run to close out the half as it helped Dickinson to a 32-25 lead at halftime.
A three-pointer by Wheaton's
Peter Smith cut the Red Devils' lead to 43-36 with 14:40 remaining in the game when Dickinson responded with a 12-4 offensive run that increased its lead to 55-40 with 11:20 left in the game. Dickinson remained in control to close out the game and earn the win.
Schauer commented on his team's season, "I love this team. This senior class will always be special to me because this group of seniors was my first recruiting class here." He added, "We had some obstacles this year and our team just kept plugging away and ended up having what can now be reflected upon as a truly great season."
Note Worthy: The 20-win season compiled by the Thunder marks the third consecutive campaign that Wheaton has reached the 20-victory milestone, marking only the second time in school history that Wheaton has put together three straight 20-win seasons…during the past four seasons, Wheaton's senior class put together a record of 83-31, winning 72.8% of its games…thanks to his 26 points tonight,
Tyler Peters became the 10th-player in school history to reach the 600-point plateau in a single season as his 607 this year is the 10th-highest total in school history…Peters ends his career in 11th-place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list with 1,549 points as he passed Wesley Pitts (1,546) for 11th-place…
Nate Haynes (PICTURED LEFT) concludes his four-year career with 677 career rebounds as he passed Joel Kolmodin (670) for 10th-place on Wheaton's career caroms list…Peters' 182 made free throws this year is the third-highest single-season total in school history…
Peter Smith's 91.1% (41-45) free throw percentage this year is third on Wheaton's single season list and
Brayden Teuscher is sixth on the list with an 89.6% (146-163) effort at the free throw line…the 138 assists by
Tyler Peters this year is the seventh-highest single-season total in school history and his 407 career assists is fifth in school history.
