Newport News, Va. - The Thunder men's basketball team saw its outstanding basketball season come to a dramatic close on Saturday night in the Sectional Final round of the NCAA Tournament with a 76-70 loss against second-ranked Christopher Newport. A cold shooting start by the Thunder paired with a white-hot start for the Captains put Wheaton behind by as many as 24 points before Wheaton came charging back in the second half, getting as close as one point before ultimately falling short. Wheaton concludes the season with a record of 25-5 while Christopher Newport improves to 27-3 on the season.

Christopher Newport came out strong to start the game, making 12 of its first 15 shot attempts including all three attempts from beyond the arc to build a 27-8 advantage with 7:30 remaining in the first half. The lead ballooned to as much as 24 points with a 36-12 CNU advantage with 4:46 to play in the half before Wheaton closed out the half on a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 40-25 at halftime.

Tyson Cruickshank led the Thunder with eight points and four rebounds in the first half. TJ Askew scored six points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Nate Sock (PICTURED LEFT) was 3-for-4 from the field in the first half, scoring six points. Trey Barber tallied 12 points for the Captains Matthew Brodie and John Hines each scored nine points for the hosts.

Trailing by 17 midway through the second half, the Thunder embarked on an 18-4 run over the span of 6:28 to pull within a point at 58-57 with 4:41 to play. Christopher Newport was able to execute at the foul line down the stretch to push the lead back out to as many as seven. Wheaton pulled back to within two on a Cruickshank three-pointer with 19 seconds left to make it 72-70, but the Captains successfully navigated through the Wheaton defense to register a pair of dunks in earning the 76-70 victory.


Cruickshank closed out his spectacular Wheaton career with a second half for the ages as he scored 26 points in the final 20 minutes, making five three-pointers in that span. The surefire All-American also found his teammates for five assists and grabbed four rebounds in the second half. Askew (PICTURED RIGHT) scored five points with five rebounds and two steals in the second half. Nick Schiavello scored five points and grabbed three rebounds in the second half. Brodie scored 10 points in the second half for the hosts, while Ty Henderson added eight points.

For the game Cruickshank led all players with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists, leading or tying for the lead among all players in each of those three categories tonight. Sock scored 11 points, with five rebounds. Askew scored 11 points, with eight rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Schiavello scored 10 points, with four rebounds and three assists.
 
The Thunder shot 41.4% (29-of-70) from the field, including 51.4% (18-of-35) in the second half. Christopher Newport posted a 50% (30-for-60) field goal percentage for the game, including 50% (7-of-14) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 62.5% (5-for-8) at the free throw line and the Captains had a 69.2% (9-of-13) effort at the charity stripe. Each team collected 38 rebounds, with a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass for the Captains.

Brodie led the Captains with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Barber and Henderson each scored 16 points for the hosts. Hines tallied 15 points. Henderson tied the for the team lead with seven rebounds apiece, while Henderson distributed a team-high six assists.

Note Worthy: The 25-win season for the Thunder is the most by a Wheaton team since 2008-09…the 25 victories this year is tied for fourth most in program history and is tied for the second-highest total since Wheaton became a NCAA Division III member.

Note Worthy -Tyson Cruickshank edition: with six assists tonight, Cruickshank closes out his historic career with 425 career assists, the second-highest total in program history…his 256 career made three-pointers is the second-highest mark in the Wheaton record books…Cruickshank has 1,774 career points and tonight passed Tim McCrary (1754) for eighth place on the all-time scoring list and also surpassed Norm Pott (1,768) to finish his career in seventh place in Wheaton history in career points…Cruickshank will depart Wheaton as its all-time leader in games played with 124.