Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team, ranked 21^st in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, opened CCIW play on Wednesday night at home. The Thunder defeated the visiting Augustana College Vikings 75-61. Wheaton improves to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in CCIW play as they return to King Arena on Saturday night against No. 17 Calvin University (7-0) in a non-conference matchup.
 
Guard Tyson Cruickshank (PICTURED LEFT) led all players with 22 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. Cruickshank shot 8-for-12 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. T.J. Askew scored 16 points with four rebounds. Senior guard Eddie Scott scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, grabbing four rebounds. Eli Considine scored 10 points and Andrew Williams scored six points with seven rebounds and distributed three assists.

The Thunder shot 54% (27-of-50) from the field, including 55.6% (10-of-18) behind the three-point arc. The Vikings shot a 44.1% (26-of-59) field goal percentage, including 36.4% (4-of-11) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 64.7% (11-of-17) at the free throw line and the Vikings shot 71.4% (5-of-7) at the charity stripe. The Thunder out-rebounded the guests 32-28, including a 6-3 edge on the offensive glass.

The Thunder came out strong to start the game as the hosts led 18-5 at the end of the game's first five minutes. Askew's layup with 9:43 remaining in the first half gave Wheaton a 23-14 lead. Augustana responded with six-consecutive points to trim Wheaton's lead to three at 23-20 with 7:10 remaining in the opening half. The guests continued with gritty play for the remainder of the first half as Wheaton led 31-30 at the halftime intermission.

Each of the eight Thunder players that saw time on the court in the first half scored at least two points in the opening period. Askew led the Thunder with seven points. Cruickshank and Scott each had six points. Nick Schiavello led Wheaton with three first-half assists, while Askew and Scott each had three rebounds for the hosts. Augustana's Daniel Carr, a preseason All-American led all players in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds.

The Vikings scored the first three points of the second half to take a 33-31 lead. Considine made a critical three-pointer in the corner for Wheaton to regain the lead at 34-33 with 18:05 remaining in the game. The hosts led by four points at 48-44 with 10:07 remaining in the game when Askew made the first of two-straight three pointers to give Wheaton a 10-point lead at 54-55 with 9:30 remaining in the contest. Wheaton maintained a double-digit lead for most of the remainder of the game as the hosts led by as many as 19 points in the final minutes.

Carr led Augustana with 17 points and nine rebounds. Matt Hawkins scored 16 points off the Vikings' bench on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.