Elmhurst, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team defeated Elmhurst 77-70 on Saturday afternoon in R.A. Faganel Hall. The seventh-ranked Thunder improve to 22-3 overall and 14-2 in CCIW play and secure sole possession of the program's first CCIW Championship since 2009. Wheaton's 87.5% winning percentage in conference play this year is the highest for the program since Wheaton had a 13-1 CCIW record and 92.9% winning percentage. The 14 conference wins this year matches the school record that was accomplished four-consecutive seasons from 1956-59. Wheaton's 22-3 overall record this season is the best record by a Thunder team to conclude the conclude the regular season since the 2008-09 team headed into the postseason with a 22-3 record.
Wheaton will serve as the host of the CCIW Tournament Semifinals and Finals next weekend in King Arena. There will be two quarterfinal games on Tuesday night with the winning teams advancing to King Arena. The first semifinal will be at 5:00 p.m. and feature No. 2 seed North Park against the highest remaining seed from Tuesday's quarterdinal games. Wheaton will play on Friday at 7:15 p.m. and face the lowest remaining seed from Tuesday's quarterfinal games. Ticket information and more details will be posted here on the Wheaton Athletics website on Sunday.
TJ Askew scored a career-high 28 points, with seven rebounds to lead the Thunder tonight. Askew shot 8-for-11 from the field, including 5-for-7 behind the three-point arc.
Tyson Cruickshank scored 14 points, with four rebounds.
Nick Schiavello scored 12 points, with three assists.
Andrew Williams tallied 11 points, with seven rebounds.
Eli Considine scored 10 points with five rebounds, and three assists.
The Thunder posted a 47.9% (23-of-48) field goal percentage, including 44% (11-of-25) behind the three-point arc. Elmhurst shot 39.7% (25-of-62) from the field, including 26.6% (6-of-21) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 76.9% (20-of-26) at the free throw line and the Bluejays had a 77.8% (14-of-18) effort at the charity stripe. Elmhurst out-rebounded the Thunder 36-31, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Ocean Johnson led Elmhurst in scoring with 16 points, while John Itounas tallied 13 points. Jonathan Zapinkski scored 12 points with 13 rebounds. Wesley Hooker scored 11 points with nine rebounds, and Tagen Pearson tallied 10 points.
The Thunder jumped out to an early advantage with a 15-6 edge through the first four-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Bluejays responded with nine unanswered points to tie the game at 15-15 with 11:30 remaining in the opening half. Elmhurst led 22-20 with 9:30 remaining in the first half, however, Wheaton closed out the half with a 17-5 run as the Thunder led 37-27 at halftime. Askew scored seven points for the guests in the key run.
Askew led all players at the halftime break with 15 points and six rebounds.
Andrew Williams scored eight points for the Thunder.
Nick Schiavello made a pair of three-pointers to score six points, and
Eli Considine grabbed four rebounds with three assists. Ocean Johnson scored eight points for Elmhurst and Wes Hooker added seven points for the hosts.
Wheaton led by as much as 16 points early in the second half as the Thunder led 45-29 with 16:45 remaining in the game. Elmhurst quickly brought the Thunder lead back to single digits as the guests led by nine points at 45-36 with 15:11 left in regulation. The Bluejays tied Wheaton at 55-55 and then on the next Thunder possession, Askew made a pair of free throws to give the Thunder a 57-55 advantage with 5:00 left in the game. Itounas responded with a basket to tie the game and then Cruickshank found Askew for a three-pointer as Wheaton regained the lead with a 60-57 edge with 4:35 remaining.
The two teams exchanged scoreless possessions for more than a minute, and then Pearson made a three-pointer to tie the game a 60-60 with 3:15 remaining in the game. Considine drained a three-pointer off of a Schiavello assist to give the Thunder a 63-60 lead with 2:49 remaining in the game. Pearson was fouled on a three-point attempt on Elmhurst's next possession, and he made two of the free throw attempts to trim the guests' lead to 63-62 with 2:35 left in regulation.
Cruickshank coolly made a critical pull-up jumper with 2:25 left to give the Thunder a 65-62 advantage. Elmhurst turned the ball over on its next possession thanks to a steal by Cruickshank. Considine was fouled following the Cruickshank steal and he made both free throws to increase Wheaton's lead to 67-62 with 1:39 left in the game. Johnson made a layup for Elmhurst on the next possession to cut Wheaton's lead to 67-64 with 1:25 left in the game. Cruickshank made a huge three-pointer on Wheaton's next possession to give extend Wheaton's advantage to six points at 70-64 with 1:03 left in the game. Zapinski made an Elmhurst layup to trim the Thunder lead to 70-66 with 44-seconds left. Elmhurst was now forced to foul Wheaton for the remainder of the game and Wheaton shot 7-or-8 at the free throw line in the final minute to secure the historic win to give the Thunder the conference championship.
PLEASE NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the evening.
