Chicago, Ill. - A three-headed scoring monster helped the Thunder men's basketball team erase an early deficit and cruise to an 88-69 victory at North Park on Saturday night. Anajuwon Spencer, Tyson Cruickshank, and Nyameye Adom each finished with 22 points as the Thunder improved to 13-8 overall and 7-5 in the CCIW. North Park falls to 4-18 and 2-11 in conference action. Wheaton will remain on the road Wednesday night for a 7 pm tip-off at Carroll University before returning home for a three-game homestand to close the regular season.

Behind the hot shooting of Toby Marek, the Vikings rushed out to a 15-3 lead over the first five minutes with Marek connecting on a trio of three-pointers in the opening stretch. Anajuwon Spencer helped Wheaton find its footing with consecutive three-pointers as the Thunder started to chip away at the Viking lead. Spencer would finish the first half with 15 points including four three-pointers of his own. Trailing 31-27 with 5:25 left in the half, Tyson Cruickshank connected on a three-pointer to start a 14-2 Thunder run that including two more Spencer triples and ended on another three-pointer by Cruickshank. A late Viking lay-up cut the Thunder halftime lead to 41-35.

Four straight points by Spencer and a lay-up by Nyameye Adom pushed Wheaton's lead into double digits as the Thunder opened the second half with six-straight points. After trading baskets, Cruickshank pushed the lead back into double digits for good with a triple at the 15:13 mark to give Wheaton a 54-43 lead. Consecutive threes by Adom and Cruickshank pushed the lead to 17 points as the Thunder pulled away through the middle stretch of the second half. 

Wheaton's lead would reach as high as 22 when Spencer hit the final of his six three-pointers and Adom ran off four straight points to constitute a 7-0 Thunder run. Marek tried to keep the Vikings close, finishing the game with 33 of North Park's 69 points, but Wheaton would not let the Vikings get closer than 15 points as the Thunder closed out the 88-69 victory.

Wheaton closed the game shooting 28-of-61 (45.9%) from the field and connecting on 11-of-24 (45.8%) from the three-point line. Led by a 7-8 performance by Adom, Wheaton finished 21-27 at the free throw line for a 77.8% clip. The Vikings finished at 38.5% (25-65) from the field and 40% (6-15) from the three-point line led by a 5-6 finish by Marek. The Vikings owned a 43-41 rebounding advantage with a 16-11 edge on the offensive glass. 

Anajuwon Spencer connected on six-of-eight three-point attempts to finish with 22 points and five rebounds. Tyson Cruickshank hit four three-pointers and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to add to his 22 points for a "double-double". Nyameye Adom dished out a game-high six assists to go with 22 points. Cade Alioth battled foul trouble to finish with seven points and nine rebounds.