PICTURED ABOVE: Michael Berg tallied 21 points and 14 rebounds in Wheaton's 83-73 win over George Fox on Friday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - With snow falling outside King Arena, Ricky Samuelson brought the same sentiment into the building. Samuelson burried a flurry of three-pointers in the first half en route to a career-high 23 points as Wheaton topped George Fox 83-73 in the home opener for the men's basketball team. Wheaton will now face Defiance at 8 PM on Saturday night in the Championship game of the 2015 Lee Pfund Classic. Wheaton improved to 2-1 on the young season while the Bruins dropped to 0-1. George Fox will face Wabash in Saturday's consolation game.

Wheaton was outshot by the percentages on Friday night with George Fox shotting 41.3% (26-63) from the field and 39.1% (9-23) from the three-point line. The Bruins finished 60% (12-20) from the free throw line, where the Thunder held a significant advantage. Wheaton converted 29-of-44 (65.9%) of its free throw attempts. The Thunder shot 37.1% (23-62) from the field and 34.8% (8-23) from beyond the arc.

The Bruins scored the first points of the night with an early three-pointer and led 6-5 but a three-pointer by Samuelson (PICTURED RIGHT) gave Wheaton an 8-6 edge just over three minutes into the game. George Fox retook the lead at the midway point of the first half but ten straight points by the Thunder, sparked by three-pointers by Samuelson and Jonathan Berntsen and a breakaway dunk by Michael Berg, pushed Wheaton out to a 25-18 lead. Samuelson's fourth and fifth trifectas of the nigh tpushed Wheaton's lead to double digits and gave Wheaton a 46-34 edge at the halftime break.

Jumpers by Murad Dillard and Berntsen (PICTURED LEFT) ballooned the Thunder lead to a game-high 17 points early in the first half before the Bruins began chipping away and the deficit. A Luke Peters lay-up with 13 minutes left gave Wheaton a 16-point advantage before George Fox ran off 11 straight points in just over three minutes to make it a five-point Thunder lead.

With the flow of the game grinding to a halt with steady foul calls, Wheaton pushed the lead back to double digits fromt the free throw line. The Bruins would get as close as three points on several occasions, including a 73-70 lead with 2:25 left, but Samuelson's career-best sixth three-pointer of the night put the game out of reach in the final minute.

Michael Berg recorded his second straight double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds and Jonathan Berntsen also added a double-double wiht 16 points and 10 rebounds. Samuelson led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Troy Morrison scored nine points and dished out nine assists off the bench of the Thunder.