Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team returned home on Wednesday night for a 77-74 non-conference victory against University of Chicago (2-3). Wheaton (4-1) hosts Millikin University Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in the CCIW opener.

Preseason All-American Aston Francis scored 38 points tonight, just one point shy of his career high. Francis made six three-pointers and distributed six assists. The Thunder junior scored 27 of his 38 points in an impressive second-half effort that saw him shoot 8-of-10 after halftime, including 5-for-7 from three-point range. Francis also distributed a game-high six assists, including five in the second half.


Thunder forward Trevor Gunter (PICTURED LEFT) collected a team-high 11 rebounds for the hosts. Ricky Samuelson added eight points and Kobe Eichelberger tallied seven points.


Jay Spencer (PICTURED RIGHT) scored seven points off the Thunder bench with two blocked shots tonight. Junior Luke Peters scored six points, with five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

The Thunder scored the first opening seven points in the first five minutes of tonight's game. A layup by Francis with 12:05 left in the first half gave Wheaton a 12-5 lead, however, the Maroons responded with an 11-4 run to give the guests a 16-14 lead with 8:25 remaining in the opening half. The final eight minutes of the half were tightly contested, as neither team led by more than three points. The Maroons led 33-30 at the halftime intermission.

Chicago extended its lead to seven points in the first two minutes of the second half as the Maroons led 39-32 with 18:15 remaining in the second half. Chicago held a 51-46 lead with 12:33 left in regulation when Francis made a three-pointer and Peters followed with a put-back basket to tie the game at 51-51 with 11:55 remaining in the second half.

The key stretch in the game started with a three-pointer by Zack Kvam to tie the game at 56-56 with 9:50 remaining regulation. Kvam's three-pointer sparked a string of 15 unanswered points that turned Chicago's 56-53 lead into a 68-56 advantage for the Thunder with 6:20 remaining in the game. Francis scored seven points in the 15-0 run and he assisted on the three Wheaton field goals that he did not tally in that span.

The Thunder maintained a consistent lead following the key 15-0 run. A UChicago three-pointer at the end of the game accounted for the three-point margin as Wheaton secured the 77-74 victory.

The Thunder posted a 42.4% (28-of-66) field goal percentage, including 32.1% (9-of-28) from three-point range. Chicago shot 41.1% (29%) from the field, including 29% (9-of-31) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 57.1% (12-for-21) at the free throw line and Chicago had a 68.2% (15-of-22) effort at the charity stripe. Chicago out-rebounded the Thunder 45-38 as each team collected 16 offensive boards. The Thunder scored 15 points off Chicago's 12 turnovers.

Chicago's Collin Barthel led four UChicago players in double digits with a team-high 16 points and he added 12 rebounds with four assists. Noah Karras and Jordan Baum each scored 13 points for the guests. Ryan Jacobsen scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.