Olivet, Mich. -- The sixth-ranked Wheaton men's basketball team used a second-half offensive surge to outlast Olivet College (2-4) in a high-scoring non-conference affair on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder grabbed a 91-82 victory over the Comets and improve to 10-1 on the season as a result of today's win.

Senior guard Nyameye Adom (PICTURED LEFT), fresh off of his CCIW player of the week nod and D3hoops.com team of the week inclusion, led all scorers once again with 30 points, including knocking down six three-pointers. Fellow veteran guard Tyson Cruickshank posted 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals in a complete performance. Cade Alioth earned another double-double on Saturday, going for 13 points and 12 rebounds. He also added five assists and one block to his stat line. Luke Anthony had a strong showing in today's victory, scoring 18 points while going a perfect five-for-five from the free throw line.

As a team, the Thunder shot 44.6% (29-for-65) from the field, a measure boosted by their impressive 53.33% (16-of-30) mark in the second half. Wheaton went 31.3% (10-for-32) from behind the three-point line and 82.1% (23-of-28) from the foul line. The Thunder out-rebounded the Comets 38-37, including an 11-10 edge on the offensive glass. Crucially, the team out-gained the hosts in second-chance points and points-off -turnover categories, with 11-7 and 24-17 splits, respectively.

Tevin Ali led four Olivet players that scored in double digits with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Lorris Upshaw scored 12 points, with two assists. Eddie Thigpen and Ryan Robinette each scored 10 points for the hosts. Noah Wiswary scored nine points with five rebounds, and Patrick Hollis scored nine points with 10 rebounds.

The majority of the first half was tightly contested. Wheaton's largest lead of the contest in the first 20 minutes of the game was a seven-point bulge at 31-24 with 7:15 remaining in the first half. The Comets responded with a 13-1 run four-and-a-half minutes to give the hosts a 37-32 lead with 2:35 remaining in the first half. Olivet led the Thunder 42-38 at halftime.

Wheaton started out strong in the second half with a basket by Cruickshank to open the half and back-to-back three-pointers by Adom to tie the game at 46-46 with 18:30 left in the game. The hot start continued over the first 4:40 of the second half as Wheaton used a 23-4 run to take a 61-46 lead with 15:15 remaining in the game. The guests continued to hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. Wheaton's largest advantage of the game was a 19-point edge that ocurred twice, the final time was 78-59 with 8:10 remaining in the game.

Next up for the Thunder is a trip to Nashville, Tennessee on December 29-30 to conclude the non-conference schedule for 2021-22. Wheaton will compete in a tournament with games held at Welch College in Gallatin, Tennessee as the Thunder face Berry College at 1:00 p.m. on December 29, and Edgewood College at 5:00 p.m. on the December 30.