Waukesha, Wis. - The Wheaton men's basketball traveled to Carroll University on Saturday afternoon for a CCIW matchup against the Pioneers inside Van Male Fieldhouse. Carroll topped the Thunder 74-58 in the conference contest.
Sophomore guard Soren Richardson led the Thunder as he scored 22 points, with five rebounds and two assists. Noah Hedrick added 16 points with six rebounds and two assists. Kyle Neibch and Devin Martin each scored eight points. Martin added five rebounds and three assists.
Wheaton shot 37.5% (21-of-56) from the field, including 22.2% (6-of-27) behind the three-point arc. The Pioneers posted a 42.9% (27-of-63) field goal percentage, including 28.2% (11-of-39) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 76.9% (10-of-13) at the free throw line and Carroll had a 60% (9-for-15) at the charity stripe. Carroll out-rebounded the Thunder 40-34, including a 15-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Pioneers bench played a key role tonight as Carroll's reserves out-scored Wheaton's bench players 25-6. Erik Victorson led Carroll with 22 points and three assists. Eckahelo Simpson tallied 13 points with five rebounds and three assists. Reserves Evan Bland and Justin Steinike led Carroll's bench brigade with eight points apiece and Jacob Naber led all players with 13 rebounds.
Carroll jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first 3:20 of the game. The hosts led 14-6 with 13:20 remaining in the first half, but Wheaton responded with an 11-3 run to tie the game at 17-17 with 8:15 remaining before halftime. Richardson made a trio of field goals to close out Wheaton's run as he contributed six of the 11 points.
The game was tied at 19-19 in the first half as the teams traded baskets. Richardson stole an errant errant Carroll pass and drove in for a layup that gave the Thunder a 21-19 lead with 5:30 remaining before halftime. Simpson scored for the hosts to tie the game, but Hedrick drained a three-pointer to give the Thunder a 24-21 lead with 4:55 remaining in the first half. Victorson responded with a three-pointer that tied the game at 24-24, but Hedrick made a layup on Wheaton's next possession that gave Wheaton a 26-24 lead with 4:15 remaining in the opening half. The 26-24 advantage turned out to be Wheaton's final lead of the game. The Pioneers led 29-28 with 2:14 left in the first half when Simpson made a basket that started a 10-5 Carroll run to close out the half as the hosts led 39-33 at the halftime intermission.
Richardson scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half, shooting 7-of-14 from the field. Hedrick added seven points and Martin had three assists in the opening half. Victorson scored 13 points for the hosts in the first half.
Richardson made a layup in the first half to cut Carroll's lead to 39-35. However the four-point deficit was the closest Wheaton could get in the second half as the hosts out-scored Wheaton 35-25 in the second half. Hedrick led Wheaton's second-half scoring with nine points Victorson led Carroll in the second half with nine points.
Wheaton returns home next Wednesday for a CCIW match in King Arena. The Thunder entertain Augustana in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off between the Thunder and the Vikings.
Wheaton returns to action next Wednesday with a road matchup at North Central College in a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Cardinals.
