PICTURED ABOVE: Senior Zack Kvam scored 10 points on "Senior Night" for the Thunder.

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team dropped a 72-55 matchup at home against North Central College (17-7, 10-5 CCIW) on Saturday night. Wheaton, now 17-7 this season with a 10-5 mark in conference play, closes out the regular season on Tuesday at Carroll University.

Aston Francis led the Thunder with 20 points, eight rebounds. The junior added three assists and two steals. Senior Zack Kvam scored 10 points off the Thunder bench, making two three-pointers. Kobe Eichelberger (PICTURED LEFT) tallied 10 points with nine rebounds and two assists. Ricky Samuelson scored seven points, with five rebounds and two steals.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the first six minutes of the game tonight.  Wheaton responded with a 15-2 run to gain a 21-17 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Thunder led 27-25 with five minutes left in the opening half when the Cardinals responded with a 16-2 run to finish out the half as the guests led 41-29 at halftime. Aiden Chang scored seven of North Central's 16 points in the key run.

A three-pointer by Chang with 12:55 remaining in the second half extended the Cardinals' lead to 19 points at 52-33. Following Chang's basket, Francis responded with seven-consecutive points to ignite a 13-1 run for the hosts to cut North Central's lead to 53-46 with 7:10 remaining in regulation.   North Central responded with an 8-2 scoring surge after the Wheaton run to extend its lead to 13 points at 61-48 with 5:05 left in the game. The guests remained in double digits for the remainder of the contest to secure the road win.

The Cardinals shot a 47.3% (26-of-55) field goal percentage, including 40% (6-of-15) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 29.3% (17-of-58) from the field, including 11.5% (3-of-26) from three-point range. North Central had an 82.4% (14-of-17) effort at the free throw line and the Thunder shot 72% (18-of-25) at the charity stripe. The guests out-rebounded Wheaton 39-36, with an 11-4 edge for the Thunder on the offensive glass.

Chang led North Central with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Matt Cappelletti added 16 points with six rebounds. Connor Raridon scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and six assists. Alex Sorenson had 10 points with six rebounds.   

Note Worthy: Francis' 20 points tonight gives him 664 points for the season to pass Kent Raymond (2008-09), Mel Peterson (1958-59), and Rob Willey (1987-88) for fourth on Wheaton's single-season scoring list…Francis now has 1,262 points in his Thunder career and stands in 29^th place in the program's all-time scoring list.