PICTURED ABOVE: Luke Peters led the Thunder with nine points tonight.
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team lost a 77-52 decision to University of Chicago at home on Wednesday night. Wheaton falls to 3-2 on the year, while the Maroons improve to 5-2.
The Thunder will travel to Holland, Michigan this weekend to compete in the Midwest Challenge. Wheaton takes on the host Hope College Flying Dutchmen on Friday at 8:00 p.m. (EST). The Thunder will face Calvin College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (EST) in Holland.
Tonight's matchup was tied 3-3 in the first 4:30 of the game. A three-pointer by Chicago's Collin Barthel with 15:25 remaining in the first half ignited a 15-2 run for the Maroons, as the guests' lead increased to 18-5 with 9:00 left in the opening half. Wheaton responded by scoring the next eight points over a two-minute span with three-pointers by
Ricky Samuelson (PICTURED LEFT) and
Jonathan Berntsen and layup for
Michael Berg to trim the UChicago lead to 18-13 with seven minutes left in the first half. Chicago responded with a 16-5 run to close out the half as the guests held a 34-18 lead at halftime.
Chicago maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half. The Maroons' largest lead of the game was the 25-point bulge in the 77-52 final score.
Freshman
Luke Peters led Wheaton with nine points tonight. Peters grabbed four rebounds and snatched four steals in the contest.
Michael Berg scored eight points with a team-high five rebounds tonight. Samuelson scored eight points with a pair of three-pointers.
Murad Dillard contributed seven points for Wheaton tonight.
Waller Perez led Chicago with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Alex Voss scored 11 points and Tyler Howard contributed 10 points for the guests. Howard distributed a game-high four assists and grabbed seven rebounds. Barthel grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and Blaine Crawford added seven boards.
The Thunder shot 31.6% (18-for-57) from the field tonight, with 29.4% (5-of-17) behind the three-point arc and 57.9% (11-for-19) at the free throw line. Chicago posted a 43.1% (29-of-58) field goal percentage, including 37.5% (9-for-24) from three-point range and 64.3% (18-of-28) at the charity stripe. The Maroons owned a 54-31 rebounding advantage tonight as the guest held a 19-3 edge on the offensive glass.
