Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team hosted Manchester University on Saturday  afternoon for a non-conference matchup inside King Arena. The Spartans utilized a strong shooting performance to earn an 89-78 victory against the Thunder.

Today's meeting was just the seventh all-time matchup between Wheaton and Manchester as the Spartans now own a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series. Today's contest was the first meeting between the two teams since Wheaton won a matchup in King Arena in November of 2011.

Thunder sophomore Soren Richardson continued his strong play with a game-high 25 points. Richardson added seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Noah Hedrick scored 15 points, with five rebounds, and three assists. Kyle Neibch made four three-pointers as he scored 12 points. Freshman guard Devin Martin scored 11 points, and he distributed a career-high seven assists. Freshman Christian Veirs scored seven points with two assists. Fellow rookie Noah Brumfield scored six points off the Thunder bench.

Wheaton recorded a 42.6% (26-of-61) field goal percentage, including 30.3% (10-of-33) from three-point range. The Spartans shot 58.1% (36-of-62) from the field, including 35.7% (5-of-14) behind the three-point arc. Both teams had impressive efforts at the free throw line as Wheaton shot 88.9% (16-of-18) at the charity stripe and the Spartans shot 100% (12-for-12) at the line. Manchester out-rebounded Wheaton 37-26, with each team collecting seven offensive boards.

Zach Sawyer led Manchester with 23 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Bryant Smith scored 20 points, with eight rebounds, and three assists. Logan Willoughby scored 15 points, with three rebounds, and two assists.
Wheaton led the Spartans 10-8 with 15:45 remaining in the first half when Hedrick made a layup. On Manchester's next possession, Richardson stole the ball and Martin found Neibch for a three-pointer that put the hosts up 15-8 with 15:15 remaining in the opening half. The seven-point bulge was Wheaton's largest lead of the game.

Manchester led by one point at 20-19 with 11:00 remaining before halftime with a three-pointer by the Spartans sparked a 14-5 Manchester run. The guests' run gave Manchester a 34-24 lead with 5:50 left in the first half. The Spartans held a 10-point lead at 50-40 at halftime. Richardson and Smith each scored 16 first-half points to lead their respective team in the first half. Hedrick added 13 points, with three assists in the first half. Martin dished out four of his seven assists in the opening half.

Richardson made a three-pointer just two minutes into the second half as Wheaton trimmed Manchester's lead to five points and 54-49. However, the guests responded with a 21-9 run that gave Manchester its largest lead of the game at 17 points with a 75-58 advantage with 9:35 remaining in the contest. Wheaton trimmed Manchester's lead to nine points in the final two minutes, but the hosts could get no closer.

Sawyer led all players with 17 points in the second half, and he added four rebounds. Richardson scored nine points for the Thunder in the final 20 minutes and Martin added eight second-half points.

Wheaton closes out its seven-game homestand on Wednesday night as University of Chicago visits King Arena for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Maroons.