GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Michael Berg (LEFT) tallied a double-double for the second consecutive game with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Brayden Teuscher (RIGHT) led the Thunder with 18 points on Saturday.
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team battled for 45 minutes on Saturday night and came up just short in a 75-70 loss in overtime at home against #10-ranked North Central (13-1/3-0 CCIW). Wheaton is now 7-7 on the year and 0-3 in CCIW play. The Thunder will host North Park on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in a conference battle.
The Cardinals led for the entire first half tonight, including a 25-15 advantage with 3:17 remaining before halftime. Thunder freshman
Murad Dillard (PICTURED LEFT) drained a three-pointer with 3:05 left in the first half to ignite an 11-5 scoring run to close out the first half for the Thunder. The Thunder scoring run trimmed the Cardinals' lead to 30-26 at the halftime intermission.
The Cardinals led 37-34 with 15:39 remaining in the second half when a three-pointer by
Joel Smith tied the game at 37-37 and
Jonathan Berntsen drained a three-pointer on a follow-up possession to give Wheaton its first lead of the game at 40-37 with 14:14 left in the second half. Wheaton continued to maintain a lead for much of the second half, leading by as many as seven points. A basket by Thunder senior
Brayden Teuscher gave Wheaton a 62-55 lead with 4:18 left in regulation.
The Cardinals made three-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut Wheaton's lead to 62-61 with 3:02 left in the second half and North Central's Charles Rosenberg made a basket to give the guests a 63-62 lead with 2:26 left in regulation. A layup by Wheaton's
Michael Berg with 1:54 left in regulation gave the Thunder a 64-63 lead. Rosenberg made the second of two free throw attempts with 1:04 left in the second half to tie the game at 64-64. Both teams missed shot attempts in the final minute of regulation as the two squads went into overtime tied at 64-64.
The Cardinals opened the overtime period with a three-pointer to take a 67-64 lead, but a basket by Berg and jumper by
Joel Smith gave Wheaton a 68-67 lead with 2:20 remaining in overtime. A layup and three-pointer for the Cardinals gave North Central a 72-68 lead with 1:37 left OT. A pair of
Peter Smith (PICTURED RIGHT) free throws cut the NCC lead to 72-70 with 1:27 left in overtime. The Cardinals continued to lead 72-70 when Rosenberg collected an offensive rebound on a missed attempt and his put-back basket gave the guests a 74-70 lead with 10-seconds left in the extra period. North Central's Joe Kennell made one of two free throw attempts to account for the 75-70 final score.
Teuscher led the Thunder with 18 points and he added four assists. Berg tallied his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Thunder junior also had four steals.
Joel Smith (PICTURED LEFT) scored 16 points, with seven rebounds.
Caleb DeMoss scored nine points, with five rebounds and four assists.
Peter Smith grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots for the Thunder.
Wheaton posted a 41% (25-for-61) field goal percentage, including 39.1% (9-of-23) from three-point range and the Thunder shot 91.7% (11-for-12) at the free throw line. North Central shot 45.3% (29-of-64) from the field, with 38.5% (10-of-26) behind the three-point arc and 58.3% (7-of-12) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Cardinals 37-35 with each team grabbing 10 offensive boards.
Rosenberg led the Cardinals with 27 points, 14 rebounds and four steals. Jayme Moten scored 22 points, and Henry Erwin scored 12 points. Jack Burchett scored 10 points, with nine rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
