Rock Island, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings (10-5, 4-2 CCIW) edged the Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team, 79-73 in overtime on Wednesday night at Augustana's Carver PE Center. Tonight's matchup was tightly contested as the two team exchanged the lead 12 times and the game was tied on 10 occasions. Wheaton is now 10-5 on the season with a 4-2 record in CCIW play.

Nyameye Adom (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Tyson Cruickshank tallied 18 points with a career-high 13 points to tally a "double-double" and he added a game-high four assists. Cade Alioth scored 16 points with six rebounds. Luke Anthony scored six points with four rebounds. Anajuwon Spencer scored five points for the guests.

The Thunder shot 38.7% (24-of-62) from the field, including 15% (3-of-20) behind the three-point arc. Augustana posted a 41.9% (28-of-62) field goal percentage, with a 25% (4-for-16) effort from three-point range. Wheaton shot 66.7% (22-of-33) at the free throw line and the Vikings shot 76.7% (23-of-30) at the charity stripe. Augustana out-rebounded the Thunder 45-37, including a 15-13 edge on the offensive glass.
 
The Vikings led 8-3 in the first three minutes of the game, however, Wheaton responded with nine unanswered points to take a 12-8 lead. Cruickshank scored seven of Wheaton's nine points in the run. Neither team led by more than four points in the remainder of the second half. The Vikings led 31-28 at the halftime intermission.

Augustana's Austin Elledge made a three-pointer in the first minute of the second half to spark an 8-2 run for the hosts as the Vikings' lead expanded to nine points at 39-30 with 17:29 remaining in regulation. The nine-point edge was the largest lead held by either team in the game. Wheaton countered with a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to trim the Vikings' lead to 43-40 with 14:28 left in the second half.

Augustana led 58-55 with 3:53 remaining in the game when Cruickshank grabbed a defensive rebound and fed Spencer with the ball quickly as Spencer scored to trim the hosts' lead to 58-57. Cruickshank stole the ball on Augustana's next possession and he was fouled. The sophomore made both free throw attempts to give Wheaton a 59-58 lead with 3:39 left in the second half. The advantage was Wheaton's first lead in the second half.

Augustana regained the lead and held a 62-59 advantage with 2:31 left in the second half when Adom scored and Alioth tallied a basket on Wheaton's next possession to give the Thunder a 63-62 lead with 1:56 left. Augustana made a pair of free throws to take a one-point lead and Adom made one of two free throws with 1:04 left in regulation to tie the game at 64-64. Augustana's Pierson made two free throws with 51 seconds left to give the Vikings a 66-64 advantage. Adom's basket with 33 seconds remaining tied the game at 66-66. Wofford's three-point attempt in the closing seconds missed as the contest went to overtime.

Cruickshank made a pair of free throws with 4:22 left in overtime to give Wheaton a 68-66 lead. Augustana countered with a pair of baskets to gain a 70-68 lead with 3:30 remaining. A three-pointer by Adom gave Wheaton a 71-70 lead with 3:01 left in the extra session. Elledge's jumper with 2:31 left gave the hosts a 72-71 lead.

Cruickshank's layup with 1:58 remaining in overtime gave Wheaton a 74-73 lead. The sophomore's basket was Wheaton's final points of the game as Augustana scored seven unanswered points in the final 1:06 of overtime to clinch the victory.

Pierson Wofford led Augustana with a game-high 27 points and he grabbed 11 rebounds. Elledge scored 20 points and Micah Martin tallied 15 points with 10 rebounds.

Wheaton returns home on Saturday to host 10^th-ranked Elmhurst (14-1, 5-1 CCIW) at 7:00 p.m. in King Arena.