PICTURED ABOVE: Aston Francis scored a game-high 25 points, draining five three-pointers to lead the Thunder.

Rock Island, Ill. – Augustana narrowly edged the Thunder men's basketball team 73-71 on Wednesday night on the Vikings' home court. A basket by Augustana's Nolan Ebel with three-seconds left in regulation snapped a 71-71 tie and gave the hosts a 73-71 lead. Thunder guard Aston Francis' three-point attempt fell short as time expired.

Wheaton is 4-3 on the year and 1-1 in conference play. The Thunder will host Calvin College on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in a non-conference tilt inside King Arena. Augustana improves to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 in CCIW play.

Wheaton jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first 3:30 of tonight's contest. Augustana gained its first lead of the game with a 20-19 advantage with 9:00 remaining in the first half. The Vikings held a narrow 37-34 lead at the halftime intermission. Francis led all scorers at halftime with 15 points as he made three field goals from behind the three-point arc in the first half. Jacob Johnson led the Vikings with 11 first-half points.

Augustana opened the second half with an 11-5 scoring advantage over the first 3:05 of the half to extend its lead to 48-39. Wheaton countered with its own 12-2 run, to turn the Vikings' 50-41 lead with 14:55 left in the game into a 53-52 Wheaton lead with 11:25 remaining in the contest. Francis made two three-pointers in the run to score six of Wheaton's 12 points.

The game was tied 56-56 with 9:40 remaining in regulation when the Vikings responded with a 9-2 run over the next 3:25 to gain a 65-58 lead with 6:17 left in the matchup. Thunder sophomore Kobe Eichelberger (PICTURED LEFT) converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 5:29 left to cut the Vikings' lead to 65-61. Francis grabbed a rebound off an Augustana miss and Wheaton took advantage of a Vikings' foul on Trevor Gunter who made both free throws to cut the hosts' lead to 65-64 with 4:35 remaining.

Augustana turned the ball over on its next possession and Eichelberger drained a jumper with 4:20 left in the game to tie the contest at 65-65. Augustana made a basket and added a free throw with 3:07 left to give the Vikings a 68-65 lead. A field goal by Gunter with 2:50 remaining in the game cut the Vikings' lead to 68-67 and Luke Peters (PICTURED RIGHT) sank a pair of free throws with 1:25 left in the contest to give Wheaton a 69-68 lead. Eichelberger stole the ball from the Vikings and made a basket that gave the Thunder a 71-68 lead with 1:13 remaining in the game. Augustana responded when Johnston drained a three-pointer with 58-seconds remaining in the game to tie the matchup at 71-71. Wheaton missed a three-point attempt on its next trip down the court and the Vikings gained the rebound and Ebel scored the game-winning basket on the ensuing Vikings' possession.

Francis led the Thunder with 25 points as he made five three-pointers. The sophomore dished out five assists and contributed four steals. Peters scored 11 points, with six rebounds for Wheaton. Gunter (PICTURED LEFT) scored 10 points and Eichelberger added eight points with seven rebounds and three steals. Jay Spencer scored seven points with five rebounds and three assists off the Thunder bench.

Pierson Wofford led the Vikings with 17 points and Johnston contributed 16 points for the hosts. Dylan Sortillo scored 14 points with six rebounds and Crishawn Orange scored 11 points.

Wheaton shot 46.2% (24-of-52) from the field, including 40% (8-for-20) from three-point range. The Vikings posted a 50% (26-of-52) field goal percentage, including 23.1% (3-for-13) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 71.4% (15-of-21) from the free throw line and the Vikings had a 75% (18-of-24) effort at the charity stripe. The Thunder out-rebounded Augustana 33-30, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Wheaton's edge on the offensive boards allowed the guests to out-score the Vikings 16-7 in second-chance points.