Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team opened CCIW play on Wednesday night with an impressive 76-60 victory at Illinois Wesleyan (5-2, 0-1 CCIW). The Thunder improve to 5-2 on the season and are 1-0 in conference play.
The Thunder scored the first 10 points tonight and never trailed in earning the win against the Titans in dominating fashion. Tonight's win marked Wheaton's third-consecutive win against Illinois Wesleyan at the Shirk Center, the home of the Titans. This is Wheaton's first three-game win streak at IWU since the Shirk Center opened in 1994-95.
Nyameye Adom (PICTURED LEFT) scored a game-high 16 points to lead five Wheaton players scoring in double digits. Adom added two steals on the defensive end.
Cade Alioth scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Alioth grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, with three assists, three blocked shots and two steals.
Anajuwon Spencer scored 11 points, with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Tyson Cruickshank scored 10 points and he dished out four assists.
Gavin Hawkins scored 10 points off the Thunder bench, making a game-high three three-pointers.
Wheaton shot a season-high 52.7% (29-of-55) from the field, including 47.1% (8-of-17) from three-point range. The Titans posted a 38.1% (24-63) field goal percentage, including 18.5% (5-of-27) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 71.4% (10-of-14) at the free throw line and Illinois Wesleyan had a 58.3% (7-of-12) performance at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Titans 36-34, with a 14-10 advantage on the offensive glass for the hosts. Tonight's game marked the first time this season that IWU has been out-rebounded.
Keondre Schumacher, Alex O'Neill and Luke Yoder each scored nine points to lead Illinois Wesleyan. O'Neill grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and Charlie Bair collected seven boards for the hosts.
Alioth made a layup on Wheaton's first possession of the game and he dished the ball off to Adom who made a three-pointer on the next possession to give Wheaton a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes. Alioth made another layup on Wheaton's next possession and
Collin Uveges drained a three-pointer with 16:27 remaining in the first half to put the guests up 10-0. The Thunder led by as many as 19 points in the first half. Wheaton held a 17-point advantage of 38-21 at the halftime intermission.
Wheaton led by as many as 24 points in the second half. Wheaton held the 24-point edge on three different occasions, the final time was in a 68-44 lead with 7:58 remaining in the game.
Wheaton remains on the road Saturday when the Thunder travels to Decatur for a conference matchup at Millikin. Saturday's game at the Griswold Center is scheduled to tipoff at 4:00 p.m.
