Decatur, Ill. -- Coming off of back-to-back victories last week, the Wheaton men's basketball team returned to the court tonight at Millikin University in the first of three-straight CCIW road tests for the Thunder. The Big Blue never trailed in a nail-biting 76-73 win in these sides' first meeting three weeks ago, but Wheaton was able to flip the script in even more comfortable fashion tonight, leading wire-to-wire in its 86-78 victory. The result marks the Thunder's third-consecutive win, sixth victory of the season overall, and their third game in a row putting more than 85 points up on the scoreboard.
Reigning USBWA Division III Player of the Week
Soren Richardson dropped in a jumper on the opening possession of Wednesday's matchup to set the tone for his team's efficient offensive performance, and
Ty Ferguson nailed a three-pointer one minute later to give Wheaton an early 5-0 edge. Millikin finally got on the board past the three-minute mark with a triple of its own, but the Thunder responded with back-to-back baskets from
Kyan VanderWoude. The hosts' first three buckets were from beyond the arc, but they were unable to get anything going on the inside, and three successive three-balls for Wheaton on consecutive possessions saw the visitors race out to a 25-11 advantage. A layup in the paint with seven minutes left in the half made it 30-19 in the Thunder's favor, and the guests maintained this double-digit lead for the rest of the period. The Big Blue notched the last seven points of the first half, but Wheaton still enjoyed a comfortable 45-32 cushion at the break.
The first four minutes of the second period saw back-and-forth offensive action, as the two teams traded baskets and neither side fully seized momentum. But the hosts were then able to work their way back into the contest with an 8-2 run to trim Wheaton's edge down to 57-51 with 12 minutes to play. The margin hovered around this mark for the next seven minutes, with the Thunder holding their lead steady without being able to pull further away. But a 6-0 surge heading into the last five minutes of the game would help Wheaton eventually seal its win by stretching its advantage back up to 12 at 72-60. A tip-in by
Devin Martin (pictured right) 
capped this run and gave the Thunder a platform to see out the result. Millikin got seven points from its next three trips down the floor, but Martin and VanderWoude combined for all of Wheaton's 12 points over the next three minutes to ensure that the visitors' lead never dipped below nine until the last possession of the game.
Wednesday's contest marked the third-straight outing in which Wheaton shot over 50% from the field while holding its opponent to under 50% for the game. The Thunder finished with a 51% measure through both periods and limited Millikin to a 43% mark including a 36.67% figure in the first half. Both teams attempted 27 three-pointers this evening, with the Big Blue making 11 to the Thunder's 10. Wheaton again earned an advantage at the foul line, taking eight more free throws than its host in the second half and making 20 in the game for a 74% figure compared to Millikin's 72% tally on 13 made free throws.
Rebounding played a big role in the Thunder's victory, as Wheaton grabbed 40 boards to Millikin's 29 and allowed just three offensive rebounds all night. The Big Blue won the turnover battle and earned more points off of takeaways and on the fast break, but this was not enough to overcome Wheaton's superiority in other areas of the game. The Thunder enjoyed a 9-2 edge in second chance points and scored 28 points in the paint to Millikin's 26.
VanderWoude helped lead Wheaton to Wednesday's win with his fourth double-double in the last six games. The freshman tallied 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds while making seven of his eight foul shots, dishing out three assists, and blocking a game-high two shot attempts. Richardson had a clinical shooting night, going 8-9 from the floor and making all four of his three-point shots to lead all scorers with 23 points. Martin and
Noah Hedrick each posted 15 points and shot 50% this evening, with the former earning three assists and Wheaton's only two steals and the latter grabbing six rebounds.
Kyle Neibch contributed nine points, five boards, and three assists in the victory.
Wheaton will leave town for the second of its three-consecutive road games on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder travel to Carthage College for a 4:15 PM matchup against the conference leaders.
