PICTURED ABOVE: Aston Francis led the Thunder 35 points at University of Chicago.

Chicago, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team had a strong second half surge on Wednesday night as the Thunder dropped a 94-92 decision at University of Chicago (5-1). Wheaton is now 3-2 on the season.

The Maroons led 62-41 at halftime as Chicago utilized 12 first-half three-pointers to build up its 19-point lead. Sophomore Aston Francis scored 18 first-half points to lead Wheaton and Ricky Samuelson added 10 points.

Chicago out-scored the Thunder 17-6 over the first eight minutes of the of second half to increase its lead to a 30-point bulge at 78-48. Wheaton freshman Jake Mlagan buried a three-pointer with 12 minutes left in the second half to spark a furious Thunder rally.

Mlagan's trifecta sparked a 41-10 Thunder scoring run over a 10-minute span that allowed Wheaton to take an 89-88 lead with 2:00 left in the first half. Wheaton was a perfect 9-of-9 from three-point range in the run. Francis' third three-pointer in the 10-minute run came with 2:03 left in the game to give the Thunder an 89-88 lead. A second-chance basket by Chicago's Collin Barthel gave the hosts a 90-89 lead and Wheaton regained the lead at 91-90 on a layup by Luke Peters (PICTURED LEFT) with 1:23 left in the game.

Chicago's Waller Perez made a pair of free throws on the Maroons' next trip down the court to give the Maroons a 92-91 lead with 54-seconds remaining in the game. Wheaton missed a three-pointer on its next trip down the court and Chicago collected the rebound as the hosts made one of two free throw attempts with 17-seconds left in the game to extend its lead to 93-91. A missed three-point attempt by Wheaton with eight seconds was gathered by Chicago. The hosts again made one of two free throws to increase the UChicago lead to 94-91 with five seconds left in the game. Chicago fouled Peters with two seconds left in the game and the sophomore made the first free throw, however the second attempt was missed and the rebound collected by Chicago as the Maroons held on for the two-point win.

Francis added another 17 points in the second half to tally a career-high 35 points in the game. He shot 14-of-22 from the field in the game, with three assists and four steals.

Samuelson (PICTURED RIGHT) scored 19 points with three assists. Samuelson and Francis each made four three-pointers in the game. Peters scored 16 points with eight rebound, five assists and four three pointers. Freshman Jay Spencer (PICTURED LEFT) scored nine points with five rebounds off the Thunder bench. Sophomore Kobe Eichelberger scored eight points for the guests.

Jake Fenlon led six Chicago players to score in double digits with 21 points as he made seven three-pointers. Blaine Crawford scored 20 points with 13 rebounds. Jordan Baum scored 15 points and Collin Barthel contributed 11 points with eight rebounds. Noah Karras and Perez each scored 10 points.

Wheaton shot 55.6% (35-of-63) from the field, including 47.8% (11-of-23) behind the three-point arc. Chicago tallied a 50% (31-of-62) field goal percentage, with a 45.9% (17-of-37) three-point field goal percentage. Wheaton shot 55% (11-of-20) at the free throw line and the Maroons had a 60% (15-of-25) effort at the charity stripe. Chicago out-rebounded the Thunder 45-23, including a 19-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Wheaton will open conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. tipoff at Elmhurst.