Naperville, Ill. -- Three days after returning to CCIW play with an exciting one-point victory over Carroll University, the Thunder men's basketball team repeated the feat in even more dramatic fashion this evening with a 72-71 win at North Central College. Trailing for much of the contest, Wheaton battled back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to earn the thrilling win thanks to
a buzzer-beater by preseason All-American Soren Richardson. His game-winning shot improved Wheaton's season record to 9-5 and marked the first buzzer-beater for the Thunder program since Nyameye Adom's long-distance heave against Illinois Wesleyan in February 2020. The Thunder are now 3-2 in conference action, with all three of their victories coming by one-point margins.
Saturday's matchup was a tale of two halves, with the Cardinals outscoring their guests, 37-26, in the first half before the Thunder flipped the script with a 46-34 disparity in the second. Wheaton's field goal percentage increased by 40% between the first and second periods, and the team finished with a 49% measure for the game while holding NCC to a 44.8% tally. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc this evening, with the Thunder making four of their 14 three-point attempts and the Cardinals only hitting the mark on two of their 15 shots from range. North Central was considerably more clinical from the free throw line, going 17-21 at the stripe, while Wheaton could only muster a 57% showing and left 12 points at the line.
North Central controlled the glass at both ends, out-rebounding Wheaton by a 38-28 margin and bringing down 13 offensive boards. But the visitors won the turnover battle at a 13-10 count, and both sides registered 38 points in the paint. The Thunder earned 16 points off of turnovers compared to the Cardinals' 12, while the hosts tallied advantages in bench production and fast break points.
The game-winner Richardson led Wheaton in scoring again with a joint game-high 22 points, earned three assists, and was the only player on either team to hit multiple threes on Saturday, finishing 3-5 from three-point range.
Carson Grier and
Kyan VanderWoude each scored 16, with the former going 8-11 from the floor and leading the team in rebounds with six, and the latter grabbing four boards and a squad-best three steals.
Devin Martin tallied a joint game-high four assists and again reached double-figures in scoring with 11 to his credit.
Brady Wynja contributed nine points and five rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench and made all three of his shot attempts.
The two sides exchanged baskets at a similar pace in the opening minutes of today's suburban showdown, with a 4-2 edge for North Central being overturned by an early three from VanderWoude. But after a Martin layup notched the scoreline at 8-8 five minutes into the game, the Cardinals scored the next five points, and Wheaton would not lead again until after the final horn sounded. Richardson's first three-pointer of the day halved the Thunder's 19-13 deficit with nine minutes remaining in the frame, but the Cardinals answered with a tip-in and a triple of their own to stay at arm's distance on the scoreboard. Three-consecutive buckets in the paint helped the Naperville outfit balloon their advantage up to 13 points heading into the last four minutes of the half, before another Richardson triple and two free throws from Martin cut into this lead. North Central responded with another 6-0 surge, but Richardson ended the first half with a tough and-one layup to get Wheaton back within 11 heading into the break.
The Cardinals earned their biggest lead of the second half 90 seconds into the period when a successful jump shot made it 41-28 in the home side's favor. But the Thunder nearly wiped out their deficit in one fell swoop with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes. Grier, VanderWoude, and Wynja all found their way to the basket to bring Wheaton back to a 41-37 line, as North Central turned the ball over three times and could not find a bucket. After two more missed shots, the hosts finally ended their scoring drought with a paint layup and a pair of foul shots and managed to stem the Thunder's offensive surge. The Cardinals' advantage would hover around nine points until the nine-minute mark of the second half. Facing another 12-point disparity at 58-46, Wheaton flipped a switch and reeled off another 7-0 run to stay within striking distance of their host. NCC stabilized itself on the offensive end but this time could not manage to stop the Thunder from scoring, and Wheaton was able to remain within five points heading into the final three minutes of regulation.
With North Central leading 66-61, the two teams traded points up until the one-minute mark. A jumper from Richardson allowed Wheaton to claw back within three at 70-67 before a defensive rebound on the Cardinals' ensuing possession gave the ball back to the visitors with a chance to tie the game. The Thunder's first attempt was off the mark, but VanderWoude managed to secure the ball and draw a shooting foul, from which he promptly sank both free throws to make it 70-69 with 15 seconds left to play. Wheaton fouled North Central on the in-bounds pass, and after the hosts' first free throw missed the target, head coach
Mike Schauer called a quick timeout to set up the game-winning play. The Cardinals' shooter held his nerve after this break to extend his team's lead to two points at 71-69, but this would ultimately count for nothing, as the Thunder shocked the home crowd with a dagger at the horn.
Richardson brought the ball up the floor with ten seconds left on the clock, and his interior pass found Grier on the left side of the lane. The freshman attempted a contested layup to tie the game, but it was rejected by North Central's leading scorer. Fortunately for the visitors, Grier was the first to react and quickly snapped up the loose ball before picking out the unmarked Richardson on the left side of the three-point arc. The All-Region selection was standing on one leg as he let fly, but his form was unaffected and the tear-drop effort fell perfectly inside the rim as the final buzzer sounded. The remarkable effort set off wild celebrations on the Thunder bench as Wheaton escaped Gregory Arena with its first buzzer-beating victory for six years.
After a heart-racing week back in the conference rotation, the Wheaton men will look to win their third-consecutive game when they travel to Millikin University on Wednesday. Tip-off between the Thunder and the Big Blue is set for 7:00 PM in Decatur.
