Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team, ranked 24
th in the preseason D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, entertained Transylvania University on Saturday night in the home opener for the Thunder. The hosts impressed in an 82-63 victory against the Pioneers (0-2). Wheaton is now 2-0 on the season and will return to action next Friday against Hanover College in the opening night of the Lee Pfund Classic.
Four Thunder players scored in double figures tonight, led by 23 points for
Tyson Cruickshank (PICTURED LEFT). He shot 5-of-9 from behind the three-point arc. The senior guard also grabbed six rebounds, with four assists.
TJ Askew shot 7-of-11 from the field in scoring 18 points with five rebounds and four blocked shots.
Micah Schnyders tallied 13 points, making two treys, with seven rebounds. Junior
Nick Schiavello had a strong outing with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. He grabbed five rebounds and distributed seven assists.
Eli Considine scored eight points for the hosts.
The Thunder shot 48.3% (28-of-58) from the field, including 39.1% (9-of-23) behind the three-point arc. Transylvania posted a 43.1% (25-of-58) field goal percentage, including 31.6% (6-of-19) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 63% (17-of-27) at the free throw line and the Pioneers had a 53.8% (7-of-13) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the guests 38-32, including a 9-7 edge on the offensive glass. Transylvania committed 15 turnovers as the Thunder out-scored the Pioneers 23-10 off turnovers.
Dakota Capps led the Pioneers with 11 points off the bench. Simon Smith had a team-high five rebounds.
Transylvania's Colby Napier made a basket with 12:53 remaining in the first half to give his team an 18-14 lead. Schnyders drained a three-pointer on Wheaton's next possession. Schynders' basket sparked 16-unanswered points as Wheaton built up a 30-18 lead. Schnyders scored seven points for Wheaton in the run. The run allowed Wheaton to hold a strong lead in the remainder of the first half as the hosts led the Pioneers 45-24 at halftime.
Cruickshank led all players with 16 points in the first half and Askew had 12 first-half points.
Wheaton's largest lead of the game was a 33-point bulge at 61-28 with 15:40 remaining in the second half. Schiavello, Schnyders and Cruickshank each scored seven second-half points to lead the hosts in the final period. Schnyders led all players with four rebounds in the second half.
