Wooster, Ohio – The Wheaton men's basketball team defeated Hanover College 84-73 on Friday night in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. Tonight's matchup marked Wheaton's first NCAA Division III Tournament game since 2014. Hanover ends the season 20-7 on the year. Wheaton improves to 20-8 overall as the squad achieved the 17th 20-win season in program history and the fourth under head coach Mike Schauer.

Tonight's victory marked the seventh-consecutive win for the Thunder in the NCAA Tournament's First Round as Wheaton has not lost in the tournament's opening round since 2004. Wheaton is 5-0 in first round games under Mike Schauer, who has a 7-4 record in the NCAA Tournament with the Thunder in five appearances.

Aston Francis led the Thunder with 42 points tonight. The senior was 14-of-29-from the field, making 8-of-16 three-point attempts. He was 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Francis gathered 13 rebounds with three assists tonight. Francis' effort was his seventh game of 40 more points this season and 10th in his career. It marked only the second time in Wheaton history that a player has scored 40 or more points in NCAA Tournament play, behind only the 47 points registered by Kent Raymond against Whitworth in the NCAA Sectional Semifinal on March 14, 2008.

Junior Anajuwon Spencer (PICTURED LEFT) had 12 points with three assists. Spencer also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to tally his first career-"double-double". Luke Anthony scored 13 points for the Thunder. Luke Peters added six points and five assists. 

The Thunder shot 50% (30-of-60) from the field, including 44.4% (12-of-27) from three-point range tonight. The Panthers posted a 38.5% (25-for-65) field goal percentage, including 31% (9-of-29) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 75% (12-of-16) at the free throw line and Hanover had a 75% (12-of-16) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Panthers 38-36 tonight with a 10-6 edge on the offensive glass for Hanover. 

Both teams played through a sluggish opening first few minutes. The Panthers led 6-4 with 14:50 remaining in the first half when Luke Anthony's three-pointer sparked a 14-3 Thunder run over a span of 4:30 as Wheaton gained a 20-7 lead. Anthony and Francis each scored seven points in the key run. Wheaton maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half. Wheaton largest lead of the opening half was the 18-point bulge of 45-27 at the halftime intermission.

The Thunder held a comfortable double-digit lead for much of the second half. Wheaton led by 16 points at 75-59 with 4:52 left in regulation. The Panthers put together a frenetic rally with 10 unanswered points, taking advantage of four Wheaton turnovers. The Hanover rally trimmed Wheaton's lead to 75-69 with 3:00 left in the game. The run cut the Wheaton lead to single digits for the first time since Wheaton held a nine-point lead at 22-13 with 8:19 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers got no closer than the six-point deficit in the remainder of the game as Wheaton held on for the victory.

Isaac Hibbard led Hanover with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals. Ryan Cloncs registered 15 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Cam Fails tallied 12 points with three assists and two steals. Fails, one of the top players in Division III, battled foul trouble early and also dealt with Peters' stingy defense.

Note Worthy: Francis' effort tonight gives him 2,224 career points to become just the third player in program history to surpass 2,200 career points...the Thunder senior surpassed Millikin's Jesse Price (2,222 career points) for eighth on the CCIW's all-time scoring list...Francis has scored 914 points this season and is the first player in Wheaton history to reach the 900-point milestone in a single season...the Thunder senior now has 360 three-pointers in his career and tonight vaulted from 19th to 16th place in Division III history with most career three-pointers.