Wheaton, Ill. -- Just 72 hours after its thrilling 102-89 win at North Park, the Thunder men's basketball team returned to King Arena to welcome Carroll University for a conference matchup. The visiting Pioneers got the better of Wheaton four weeks ago in Waukesha, but the Thunder were able to return the favor on Saturday night in another high-scoring affair, eventually claiming a 91-81 win to earn the program's 11th-straight home victory over tonight's opponents. The result gives Wheaton its second exciting win of this week as the team now heads into the home stretch of the regular season.
The game began with an offensive blitz, as both teams made their first three shot attempts and sought to play at a fast pace. The lead changed hands six times in the opening two and a half minutes, before Carroll managed to go up by two possessions. But Wheaton answered back and reclaimed the advantage on 14 minutes, and the hosts would not trail again until the 6:30 mark of the second half. The Pioneers were able to stay within three points of the Thunder until a corner three from
Steven Schultz put Wheaton up 31-26 with six and a half to play in the first period and forced a Carroll timeout, giving the strong King Arena crowd more energy. A clean jumper from tonight's leading scorer,
Soren Richardson, three minutes later gave the home side its largest lead of the half at 41-31. But the Wisconsin visitors responded with a triple of their own on the next possession and notched the last basket of the half to trim Wheaton's advantage down to 43-37 at the break.
Kyle Neibch registered the Thunder's first eight points of the second frame to balloon their lead back up to 11, but this was as large as the margin got before Carroll eventually started working its way back into the contest. Wheaton held a 61-53 edge at the 12-minute mark, but the guests mounted a 7-0 run over the next 90 seconds to draw back within one point. The following three minutes saw another back-and-forth stretch with Wheaton managing to stay in front until a three-pointer from Carroll's leading scorer on the night completed the comeback and tied the game at 68-68. The Pioneers reclaimed a narrow advantage on their next trip down the floor, and a layup in the lane put Carroll ahead by two with five minutes remaining. But Wednesday's headline-maker Richardson continued his fine form with a clutch three-pointer to nudge Wheaton back ahead at 74-73 one minute later. Two free throws soon after would flip the score again, but this proved to be the last time the visitors held the lead on Saturday.
Another huge triple from Richardson with 2:48 on the clock restored the Thunder's three-point edge, and following a Carroll layup in response, the hosts rattled off a critical seven-point surge capped by another Richardson three-pointer that gave Wheaton some breathing room with less than a minute to play. The Pioneers would draw back within six points twice in the final 60 seconds, but four made foul shots and two forced turnovers from the Thunder prevented their northern guests from pulling off a late escape.
Kyan VanderWoude put the icing on the cake with ten seconds left as the freshman stole the ball away and jammed it home in front of a raucous student section to seal the game's ultimate scoreline.
Wheaton finishes a good week of results with 193 combined points over two games and a field goal percentage above 50% in both contests having shot 50.8% this evening. The Thunder held Carroll to a 44% mark on Saturday, and while neither side had a strong night from beyond the arc, the Thunder came up with key baskets down the stretch to make the difference. Free throw shooting again broke Wheaton's way tonight, with the hosts going 75% from the line as the visitors settled for a 65% figure with three fewer makes. Only eight foul shots were attempted in the first half while a choppy second period saw a combined 39 free throws taken. Carroll earned a narrow rebounding advantage at 40-36, but Wheaton forced 13 turnovers and committed just eight of its own. The Thunder dominated the various scoring categories this evening, tallying a 46-32 advantage in points in the paint and a 21-4 disparity in points off of turnovers. The hosts also scored 15 points on the fast break while limiting the Pioneers to seven.
Richardson logged 29 points on Saturday for a weekly total of 82. He led all scorers once again this evening while also grabbing seven rebounds and a new career-high five steals. The sophomore dished out three assists and registered a joint game-high two blocks. VanderWoude matched his teammate on two rejections and was one rebound away from another double-double, going for 22 points and a game-best nine boards while shooting over 50% from the floor. Neibch contributed 16 points, six rebounds, and three dimes in the win.
Noah Hedrick was Wheaton's fourth double-digit scorer on the night with ten points and seven boards to his credit.
Devin Martin was a perfect 6-6 at the foul line on Saturday and earned a game-leading six assists.
After a successful night in King Arena, the Thunder head back out on the road in the coming midweek and will be away from home for their next three games. Wheaton travels to Millikin University on Wednesday for a 7 PM contest against the Big Blue.
