Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton men's basketball team, ranked sixth in Division III by D3hoops.com, held off a strong Ripon College squad on Saturday as the Thunder defeated the Red Hawks, 66-62. Wheaton remains undefeated at 6-0 on the season, while Ripon falls to 2-3.

Eli Considine and Nyameye Adom each led the Thunder in scoring with 19 points apiece. Considine drained four three-pointers and Adom added a pair of treys. Adom had four assists and Considine added three. Cade Alioth scored 17 points with 16 rebounds, for his fifth 'double-double' of the season. Tyson Cruickshank scored six points with three assists, and Eddie Scott added five points with three assists.

The Thunder shot 40.3% (26-of-62) from the field today, including 36.4% (8-for-22) from three-point range. The Red Hawks posted a 47.3% (26-of-55) field goal percentage, including 38.5% (5-for-13) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 61.5% (8-of-13) at the free throw line today, and Ripon had an 83.3% (5of-6) effort at the charity stripe,. The Thunder out-rebounded the Red Hawks 36-33, including an 11-4 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton took advantage of transition today as the Thunder had a 14-4 edge in fast break points.

Jaylen Mahone and Ryan Steffes each scored 17 points for Ripon, and Owen Theune tallied 13 points. Mahone led the guests with seven rebounds and Steffes added six boards, with four assists.

Ripon led 5-4 in the first two-and-a-half minutes today, but a three-pointer by Considine with 17:05 left in the first half sparked an 11-4 Wheaton run that gave the hosts a 15-9 lead with 13:30 left before halftime. Wheaton used three-pointers by Adom and Considine in the middle of the first half to build up a 13-point lead, its largest of the game at 28-15 with 8:00 left in the first half. Ripon closed out the opening half with a 14-4 scoring surge to trim Wheaton's lead to 32-29 at the halftime intermission.

Adom scored 10 points in the first half, with two assists. Considine and Alioth each scored eight points, with eight rebounds for Alioth. Theune led Ripon with nine first-half points.

Mahone made a three-pointer about two minutes into the second half to tie the game at 34-34. Adom responded for Wheaton with a layup and a three-pointer to give Wheaton a 39-34 lead with 15:50 remaining in the contest. Wheaton built up its lead to as many as 10 points at 52-42 with 8:30 left in the game. However, the Red Hawks would not be deterred as the guests scored 11 unanswered points, capped by a three-pointer for Steffes that gave Ripon a 53-52 lead with 5:00 left in regulation. Over the next four minutes the teams exchanged one-point leads seven times. Mahone drained a jumper with 1:05 remaining in the game to give the Red Hawks a 62-61 lead. Alioth drained a three-pointer on Wheaton's next possession to allow the host to regain the lead at 64-62 with 56-seconds left in the game.

The Red Hawks took a timeout following Alioth's trifecta. A Ripon field goal late in the possession fell short and Adom collected the rebound, and was fouled. The All-American made both free throws to increase Wheaton's lead to 66-62 with 16-seconds left. On Ripon's next possession, Nick Schiavello blocked Mahone's shot and Alioth collected the rebound. Wheaton held on for the win.

Wheaton opens CCIW play on Wednesday night with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against Carthage in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Wednesday's game is the start of three-consecutive CCIW games on the road for Wheaton as the Thunder travel to Carthage, Elmhurst and Carroll to start the conference schedule. Wheaton returns home on December 11 for a battle of nationally-ranked conference foes when Illinois Wesleyan visits King Arena.