PICTURED ABOVE: Ricky Samuelson (LEFT) scored a game-high 33 points on Tuesday night and Aston Francis (RIGHT) added 27 points for the Thunder.

Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Wheaton men's basketball team (2-1) traveled to Calvin College on Tuesday night for its first road contest of the 2017-18 season. The Knights (1-2) topped Wheaton 96-86 in a high-scoring affair.

Thunder senior Ricky Samuelson continued his impressive start to the season with a game-high 33 points. Samuelson shot 11-of-18 from the field, including 5-for-8 from three-point range. Junior Aston Francis scored 27 points, making four three-pointers. Francis added five assists and two steals. Kobe Eichelberger scored 11 points with five rebounds and Zack Kvam added seven points with four assists and four rebounds. Thunder freshman Cade Alioth (PICTURED LEFT) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, including four offensive boards for the guests. Luke Peters added four assists and Alioth contributed three assists.

The Knights led for the majority of the first half, including a 13-point edge at 35-22 with 6:05 left before halftime. Wheaton used a 10-1 run over a three-minute span to cut the hosts advantage to 36-32 with 3:04 left in the opening half. Samuelson's three-pointer to close out the first half cut the Calvin lead to 44-43 at the halftime intermission.

Calvin scored the first seven points of the second half to gain a 51-43 lead with 18:20 remaining in regulation. Calvin's Tony Canonie made a three-pointer with 15:50 left in the second half to give the hosts a 57-51 lead. Wheaton responded with eight unanswered points, capped by a Francis three-pointer to give the Thunder a 58-57 lead with 14:15 remaining in the game. Calvin countered with a 14-4 run to give the hosts a 71-62 lead with 8:58 remaining in the game. Calvin maintained a lead for the remainder of the night to secure the 96-86 victory.

Wheaton shot 43.3% (26-of-67) from the field, including 42.4% (10-for-29) behind the three-point arc. Calvin posted a 49.2% (32-of-65) field goal percentage, with 44.8% (13-of-29) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 64.3% (18-of-28) at the free throw line and the Knights had a 90.5% (19-of-21) effort at the charity stripe. Calvin held a 38-36 rebounding advantage, however, the Thunder held a 13-6 edge on the offensive glass.  

Six Calvin players scored in double digits tonight. Canonie led the Knights with 17 points and 10 assists. Michael Wilks scored 15 points with seven rebounds. Austin Bykerk and Tom Morrison each scored 14 points for the hosts.

The Thunder travel to Franklin College Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. (EST) tipoff with the Grizzlies.