Decatur, Ill. -- After consecutive narrow victories over Carroll and North Central last week, the Thunder men's basketball team remained on the road this evening for a conference test in central Illinois against Millikin University. Wheaton ended its run of one-point league wins with a commanding 88-76 result in Decatur, scoring 44 points in each half to withstand the Big Blue's challenge. The visitors were powered by the CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week,
Soren Richardson, who scored a season-high 33 points tonight to lead his team to a third-straight win. Wheaton has now reached double-figures in the win column this season with an overall record of 10-5 and owns a conference mark of 4-2. Millikin is one game ahead in the overall count at 11-5 but slips to 3-4 in CCIW competition with Wednesday's defeat.
The home side made a quick start this evening, knocking down baskets on its first two possessions to seize an early 4-0 advantage.
Carson Grier got the Thunder on the board with a layup in the lane from a nice feed by Richardson, before
Devin Martin answered Millikin's subsequent tip-in with the first of Wheaton's 15 three-pointers on the night to make it 6-5 in the hosts' favor. A three-ball from
Kyle Neibch (
pictured right) tied the score at 8-8, and another paint layup from Grier gave Wheaton its first
edge eight minutes into the contest. The middle portion of the first period saw the two sides trade baskets and come up with multiple takeaways in a competitive battle, and the Thunder would not earn a two-possession lead until the final three minutes of the half.
Trailing 28-27 with 4:30 left to play in the first frame, Neibch splashed in his second triple of the night, and this sparked a 12-0 surge for the visitors.
Kyan VanderWoude came up with five points either side of a Richardson jumper to put Wheaton on top by 11 heading into the final 90 seconds. Millikin stopped the bleeding with four points from its next two possessions to draw back within single digits, but Richardson had the final say of the first half, draining a three on Wheaton's last trip down the floor to put his side up by 12 at the intermission.
Both teams put up 44 points in the second frame, as the Big Blue found more success on the offensive end but could not hinder Wheaton's efficiency on the other side of the court. The Thunder never surrendered their double-digit lead after halftime and led by as much as 24 before Millikin halved that deficit in the closing minutes to make the final scoreline more respectable. Richardson accounted for Wheaton's first eight points of the half, including two triples that helped him tie his career-best single-game mark with six made three-pointers on the night. Grier (
pictured left) capped the Thunder's impressive outing with the team's last basket of the game via another layup in
the lane, before the Big Blue notched the final five points to confirm the 88-76 result.
Wheaton enjoyed a strong shooting performance on Wednesday, finishing the contest with a 56% field goal percentage and 32 made baskets. The Thunder shot 50% from beyond the arc, including an impressive 6-8 tally in the second half, and the team's total of 15 successful three-point tries tonight is the most for Wheaton in a single game since its first fixture of 2025 against Illinois Wesleyan last January. The visitors registered the same exact mark from the three-point line as they did the free throw line in tonight's second half. Millikin managed a 44.4% measure from the floor and sank 15 of its 17 foul shots but only hit five three-pointers on the night.
The Big Blue grabbed 35 rebounds to the Thunder's 29, including a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass, and both squads turned the ball over 13 times. The hosts carved out disparities in bench points, second chance scoring, and points in the paint, but Wheaton's hot shooting and coordinated ball movement, exemplified by a 25-8 edge in assists, proved too much to overcome on the night.
Richardson netted a season-high 33 points on 11-19 shooting to lead all scorers, and the junior made five of his six foul shots this evening while also dishing out a pair of assists. His 33-point haul is the third-most in any CCIW game this season. Grier finished with 13 points and put in a well-rounded display on Wednesday, leading all players in rebounding, assists, and steals, with totals of seven, seven, and three, respectively. VanderWoude was Wheaton's second-highest scorer on the night with 15 to his credit, making seven of his 11 shot attempts and bringing down five rebounds to go with his three dimes. Neibch sank four three-pointers tonight for a total of 12 points and collected three rebounds.
Reid Olson contributed eight points, five assists, and three boards from the bench, and he was joined on five dimes by Martin, who also grabbed four rebounds and two steals.
Riding a three-game win streak, Wheaton will return to King Arena this weekend for a key conference clash against perennial rivals, Illinois Wesleyan University. Tip-off between the Thunder and the 15th-ranked Titans is set for 7:15 PM on Saturday.
