PICTURED ABOVE: The men's basketball team was presented the championship trophy by Kerry and Randy Pfund the sons of legendary Wheaton coach Lee Pfund, the tournament's namesake.
Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder men's basketball team won the championship game of the 2016 Lee Pfund Classic on Saturday night with a 79-69 victory against Heidelberg University (1-1). Tonight's victory marked the ninth time in the last 10 years that Wheaton has won its own tournament.
Heidelberg held a 14-13 lead early in the matchup, however, Wheaton responded with seven unanswered points to gain a 20-14 lead. Wheaton never trailed in the remainder of the game. The Student Princes trimmed Wheaton's lead to 20-18 with 9:12 remaining in the first half, however, Wheaton responded with a 10-2 run to increase its advantage to 30-20 with 7:01 remaining before halftime. The Thunder led Heidelberg 40-33 at the halftime intermission.
Wheaton held a double-digit lead for much of the opening 10 minutes of the second half, as Wheaton's largest lead of the game was a 58-40 advantage with 13:18 left in the second half. The closest Heidelberg could get was a seven-point deficit at 73-66 with 1:25 left in regulation, but the Student Princes could get no closer.
Wheaton sophomore
Aston Francis (PICTURED LEFT) scored a game-high 27 points, making seven three-pointers. Francis was named the Will Landry Memorial MVP at the conclusion of the tournament.
Ricky Samuelson also picked up All-Tournament recognition with 11 points tonight.
Kobe Eichelberger (PICTURED RIGHT) scored 13 points with four rebounds. Sophomore
Luke Peters scored 10 points, with nine rebounds and eight assists. Sophomore
Reagan Jones scored nine points with six rebounds.
Trevor Gunter collected a game-high 13 rebounds, including six offensive boards.
Kiere Bennie, an All-Tournament selection, led Heidelberg with 25 points and 10 rebounds. DeAvery Collins scored 12 points to earn a berth on the All-Tournament Team.
Wheaton shot 36.1% (22-of-61) from the field, including 41.7% (10-for-24) from three-point range. Heidelberg posted a 34.9% (22-of-63) field goal percentage, including 30% (9-of-30) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 73.5% (25-of-34) at the free throw line and the Student Princes had a 59.3% (16-of-27) effort at the charity stripe.
Wheaton (2-1) will host UW-Platteville on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in King Arena.
