GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Murad Dillard scored a team-high 13 points and added three assists for the Thunder.

Rock Island, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team had a strong shooting effort on Saturday night, but was unable to overcome a late Augustana rally in a 72-68 loss to the top-ranked Vikings in the CCIW opener for both teams.

Wheaton is now 4-8 on the year and 0-1 in CCIW play. The Thunder will travel to Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday for a conference matchup with the Titans. Augustana, ranked first in the most recent D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, is now 12-0 on the season with a 1-0 record in league play.

The opening minutes of the first half tonight were tightly contested. The Vikings led 12-8 with 12:40 remaining in the first half when Thunder senior Riley Teuscher made the first of two three-pointers in a two-minute span to spark a 10-0 run for the Thunder that gave Wheaton an 18-12 lead with 10:00 left in the first half.

The Vikings responded with an 11-3 run to take a 23-21 lead with 7:05 remaining in the opening half. Wheaton countered with a scoring run to close out the first half. The Vikings led 31-26 with 3:45 remaining in the first half when the Thunder responded with an 11-5 run in the final 3:25 of the first half to lead 37-36 at the halftime intermission. Murad Dillard made two baskets, including a three-pointer in the final 2:10 of the half to help Wheaton's surge.

Wheaton sophomore Ricky Samuelson (PICTURED LEFT) scored Wheaton's opening basket of the second half and added a three-pointer at the 18-minute mark to increase Wheaton's lead to 42-36. The Thunder continued to maintain its lead when a three-pointer for Augustana's Tayvian Johnson trimmed Wheaton's lead to 46-45 with 14:05 remaining in regulation. An old-fashioned three-point play for Wheaton freshman Troy Morrison ignited a 9-0 run for the Thunder to increase the guests' lead to 55-45 with 11:30 remaining in regulation.

Wheaton held a 64-57 lead with 7:10 left in the game when a basket by Augustana's Hunter Hill started an 11-2 run for the hosts that culminated with an old-fashioned three-point play for Johnson that gave Augustana its first lead since late in the first half. Johnson's basket and free throw gave the Vikings a 67-66 lead with 2:25 remaining in the matchup. The Vikings made five of six free throw attempts in the final 1:30 of the contest to secure the win against the Thunder.

Dillard led a well-rounded offensive effort for Wheaton that featured four players scoring in double digits. The sophomore scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Dillard also grabbed six rebounds with three assists.

Samuelson and Joel Smith (PICTURED RIGHT) each scored 11 points for the Thunder.  Senior Michael Berg contributed 10 points; Teuscher added nine points and Jonathan Berntsen scored seven points with three assists.

Hunter Hill led Augustana with 21 points and three assists. Brandon Motzel added 15 points with 14 rebounds for the hosts and Johnson scored 13 points off of the Vikings' bench.

Wheaton shot 46.8% (22-of-47) from the field in the game, including 56% (14-for-25) in the first half. The Thunder shot 47.4% (9-of-19) from three-point range in the contest, including 75% (6-of-8) in the opening half. Augustana posted a 41.8% (22-of-55) field goal percentage in the game, including 33.3% (6-of-18) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 75% (15-of-20) at the free throw line and the Vikings had a 74.1% (20-for-27) effort at the charity stripe. Augustana owned a 40-23 rebounding advantage in the game, including a 15-2 edge on the offensive glass.