Chicago, Ill. -- The Wheaton men's basketball team returned to action on Wednesday night following its bye weekend and traveled into Chicago for a matchup with North Park University. The Thunder outscored the Vikings by 20 points in the second half tonight to earn a 102-89 win, as sophomore Soren Richardson put up 53 points in an outstanding showing to lead Wheaton to victory. The win marked the team's first success in conference play this year and just the third CCIW defeat of the season for North Park. Wednesday's result is the first game in which the Thunder program has tallied 100 points since a 107-95 win at Illinois Wesleyan University in February 2018. Tonight's victory also gave Wheaton head coach Mike Schauer the 400th win of his coaching career.

Richardson's new career-high mark of 53 points is the third-highest single-game total in program history and the third-highest tally in a game across all NCAA Divisions this season, being the second-highest total by any Division III player in 2024-25. It is also the most points ever scored by a Wheaton men's basketball player in a conference game and fifth-most in history across all CCIW games.

In earning his 400th career victory, Schauer (pictured right) becomes just the second head coach in program history to reach the 400-win mark after Bill Harris (447 career wins, 1991-2009). Schauer has compiled 254 victories at Wheaton in his 16  seasons at the helm, which ranks third all-time in program history behind Lee Pfund's 362 and Harris' 320. Congratulating Coach Schauer on reaching this landmark, Wheaton College President Dr. Philip Ryken stated, "Coach Schauer has always been a winner. What's more impressive than 400 wins is the difference his student-athletes make for Christ and His Kingdom." 

The two teams made exactly the same number of field goal attempts in tonight's contest, but Wheaton had the more accurate shooting performance, going an impressive 55.7% from the floor while holding North Park to a 47.2% figure for the game. Both sides also made 12 three-pointers on Wednesday as the Thunder were an even 50% from beyond the arc. Wheaton grabbed 39 rebounds to North Park's 32, although the Vikings won the turnover battle, 16-12. The squads were essentially even in the points in the paint, second chance points, and fast break scoring categories, while North Park enjoyed more bench production and points off of turnovers. Free throw shooting accounted for Wheaton's margin of victory tonight, as the Thunder knocked down 22 foul shots to the hosts' nine to win the game by 13 points.

Richardson's point tally was established from a remarkable 18 made field goal attempts, including a game-high six three-pointers. The sophomore also drained 11 free throws in the second half to help his team see out the win. Kyan VanderWoude registered his third double-double in the last four games with a 17-point, 10-rebound effort while shooting 50% from the field and dishing out five assists. Kyle Neibch was just one three-pointer behind Richardson with five to his credit and also brought down six boards and earned three assists. Devin Martin had a solid all-around performance, registering a team-high eight assists, seven points, and seven rebounds while also leading all players with four steals.

The hosting Vikings scored on their first two possessions of the night, before a Neibch three-ball and a VanderWoude layup gave Wheaton its first lead at 5-4. The opening period featured eight lead changes and was a back-and-forth affair until North Park mounted an 11-2 run to build a 35-26 advantage with eight minutes remaining in the half. After a Richardson basket in the paint, the home side reeled off another 8-0 stretch to establish a 15-point cushion on the scoreboard. But a fast break bucket from  VanderWoude (pictured left) was then sandwiched by two Richardson scores, and Wheaton tallied 15 of the last 22 points of the half to pull back within striking distance at the break.

North Park scored the first five points of the second period to reestablish its double-digit lead, but a 12-0 run by the Thunder between the 18- and 15-minute mark would see the suburban visitors tie the game at 58-58 to provide the platform for Wheaton's comeback win. Another triple from Neibch put the Thunder ahead at 64-62, but a Vikings three on the ensuing possession saw the hosts edge back in front. Neibch then fed Richardson for a contested layup in the lane, and Wheaton capitalized on the subsequent North Park miss with a three-pointer by Martin on the fast break. This quick surge near the 12-minute point of the second half would prove to be the decisive turning point in the contest, as the Thunder would hold the lead for the remainder of the game.

North Park refused to go away and trimmed Wheaton's seven-point advantage back down to one at the 6:45 mark with consecutive threes, but another Richardson-Neibch scoring sequence put the guests back up by two possessions, and they would own a lead at least that large for the rest of the contest. Even playing as the underdogs in a challenging road environment, Wheaton showed excellent composure and game management to hold its nerve from the foul line and not give up too many turnovers to allow the Vikings back into the game in the closing minutes. North Park scored just three baskets from open play in the final four minutes, and steady free throw shooting enabled the Thunder to carve out a double-digit advantage for the last two minutes of the game. Richardson's last five points of the night came at the charity stripe, and his foul shot at the 1:47 mark of the second half confirmed his place as just the third men's player in school history to score 50 points in a single game and the first to reach a half-century since Aston Francis did so in March of 2019. The Thunder eclipsed the 100-point mark thanks to two more Richardson free throws a minute later and put the seal on a famous road win and a milestone victory for their head coach.

The Wheaton men's squad will look to build on tonight's positive result when it returns to King Arena this weekend to face Carroll University. Tip-off between the Thunder and the Pioneers is scheduled for 7:15 PM on Saturday.


Noteworthy: Soren Richardson's 53 points ranks third in Wheaton single-game history, only behind Aston Francis' 62 points in a NCAA Tournament win over Marietta College in March 2019 and Francis' 54 points against UW-Platteville in December 2018 ... Richardson's effort marks the second-most points ever scored for the Thunder in a regular season game ... his 18 field goals in Wednesday's victory is the most in a single contest for Wheaton since Francis' 19 against Marietta in 2019.

ALL-TIME HIGHEST SINGLE-GAME POINT TOTALS (CCIW GAMES ONLY)

PLAYER	GAME	POINTS
Jack Sunderlik (Millikin)	vs. Carroll, 1967	62
Scott Steagall (Millikin)	vs. Augustana, 1951	59
Bill Simpson (Elmhurst)	vs. Wheaton, 1975	54
Jack Ecker (North Park)	vs. Carthage, 1995	54
Soren Richardson (Wheaton)	vs. North Park, 2025	53