Rock Island, Ill. -- Rounding off a three-game road stretch and leaving home for the last time this season, the Wheaton men's basketball team headed west to Augustana College on Wednesday night. The Vikings defeated the Thunder, 101-76, tonight to solidify their spot in next week's CCIW Tournament. Wheaton will finish its 2024-25 campaign with a Senior Night contest against North Central College on Saturday. Tip-off in that game is scheduled for 7:15 PM in King Arena.
The Thunder claimed a 3-2 lead early on when the team's leading scorer on the night,
Kyan VanderWoude, drained his shot from beyond the arc. But this was the only point of the game at which the home side trailed. Three free throws from Augie's Tyler Knuth, who put up 35 points on Wednesday, moved the hosts back in front before VanderWoude tied the score at 5-5 with a layup on a fast break. The Vikings then reeled off a 9-0 surge over a two-minute span, and this proved to be the launching pad for their victory this evening. A jumper by
Soren Richardson brought Wheaton back within six points at 34-28 with four and a half minutes left in the first period. But Augustana closed the half on a 14-1 run and would maintain a double-digit advantage for the whole second frame en route to a high-scoring home win.
The two sides posted virtually the same shooting percentage on Wednesday, but the Vikings attempted 18 more shots than the Thunder thanks to an impressive offensive rebounding effort. Augustana grabbed 39 total rebounds to Wheaton's 31 and brought down 16 offensive boards while limiting its visitor to seven. The hosts also fared slightly better from three-point range and were awarded nine more foul shots than Wheaton this evening. Augustana's positive turnover margin also played a role in tonight's outcome, with the Vikings forcing 17 turnovers and committing only seven.
VanderWoude registered 22 points to lead Wheaton offensively and shot 9-14 from the floor on Wednesday, including 3-5 from three-point land. Richardson scored 19 points and earned four assists, and
Jack Speers joined the aforementioned pair in double-figures with ten points despite only playing 18 minutes.
Kyle Neibch led all players with ten rebounds, while
Steven Schultz went for seven points, five boards, and a game-high six assists this evening.
The Thunder will look to sign off with a win when they welcome North Central to King Arena on Saturday night. The Cardinals are already assured of a place in the upcoming conference tournament but are still playing for a top four spot in the standings that would see them earn the right to host a quarterfinal game in Naperville next Tuesday.
