Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder men's basketball team returned to King Arena for its second matchup against a Wisconsin-based opponent from the NACC in the space of three days, as Wheaton welcomed Concordia University Wisconsin to town on Tuesday night. In just the second-ever meeting between the Thunder and Falcons programs, Wheaton earned a gritty 78-71 win to pick up its first home court victory of the new season and move to 2-2 on the year. The Thunder have two more home games to look forward to this week, as Wheaton prepares to host the annual Lee Pfund Classic on Friday and Saturday.
The two teams were separated by single digits for the entirety of the 40 minutes of play tonight, and the lead changed hands 11 times in a competitive battle. The visiting Falcons posted the superior overall shooting percentage in the non-conference contest, but Concordia Wisconsin struggled from beyond the arc and Wheaton made the most of its free throw shooting advantage on Tuesday. The Thunder held CUW to just two successful three-point attempts all game and none in the second half, while also going an impressive 17-19 from the foul line, generating an eight-point differential over Concordia at the stripe. The Wisconsin side earned a sizable scoring advantage from points in the paint this evening, but Wheaton surpassed the Falcons in points off of turnovers, second chance points, fast break points, and bench scoring to claim the victory.
Soren Richardson once again led all players in scoring with 29 to his name on Tuesday and forced a game-high three steals while also hauling in five rebounds, earning two assists, and blocking a shot. The sophomore was 11-12 from the free throw line, including sinking four in the final minute of the game to ice away the win for Wheaton.
Noah Hedrick registered 15 points and led the Thunder with six rebounds tonight in addition to his three assists, one steal, and one rejection.
Kyle Neibch drained three well-timed triples to account for nine points and came up with four boards and a pair of takeaways.
Nathan Clark joined Neibch on two steals and scored seven points while also dishing out four dimes.
Devin Martin posted a team-high five assists, and
Christian Veirs and
Kyan VanderWoude both contributed seven points off the bench this evening.
Concordia Wisconsin scored on the first possession of the game and led for two minutes until Neibch dropped in his first three-point bucket to get Wheaton on the board. Clark converted a layup on the fast break to make it 8-3 in Wheaton's favor one minute later, but CUW mounted a 10-0 run to surge in front by five with seven minutes played in the opening half. The Thunder answered back with a seven-point stretch capped off by a Hedrick dunk to fire up the King Arena crowd. The two sides then proceeded to trade baskets over the next five minutes as neither squad could fully seize momentum and create meaningful separation on the scoreboard. The Falcons slowly chipped away at the hosts' advantage and reclaimed a 34-33 lead thanks to a rare three-pointer with less than three minutes to play in the first frame. But Clark drained one from distance on Wheaton's ensuing trip down the floor, encapsulating the seesaw nature of the opening half. A jumper in the lane by Concordia tied the score at 38-38 in the last minute of the period, but two foul shots from Richardson and a defensive stop on the final possession gave the Thunder a two-point edge at the break.
The second half followed a similarly competitive trajectory of back-and-forth action, and the largest lead for either team until the four-minute mark was just four points. With Wheaton trailing 66-65 with 4:30 left to play, Richardson stepped up to score the next five points to push the hosts back in front, and this was followed by two missed three-point attempts and a turnover by the Falcons. Hedrick scooped in a tough layup in the paint to make it 72-66 with just over two minutes left on the clock, and this would prove to be an insurmountable deficit for the visitors thanks to some cool-headed game management down the stretch by the Thunder. Wheaton stepped up defensively and conceded only one basket from open play in the final five minutes of the contest while also not committing any turnovers to hand the Falcons extra opportunities on the offensive end. A pair of free throws for CUW trimmed the lead down to 74-69 with 47 seconds left, but Richardson showed poise from the charity stripe and made all four of his attempts after being fouled to help Wheaton see out the 78-71 win.
Wheaton will hope to carry tonight's positive result over to this coming weekend as the team gets ready to host the 28th edition of the Lee Pfund Classic. The Thunder are set to welcome Dubuque, Olivet, and Rockford to King Arena for the annual four-team event, and Wheaton's semifinal game will be against Rockford at 7 PM on Friday. The winner of this matchup will advance to Saturday night's Championship game, while the losing sides from the two semis will meet in a consolation game immediately preceding the championship.
