Elmhurst, Ill. – The Thunder men's basketball team traveled to Elmhurst University on Wednesday night for a key CCIW matchup between the DuPage County foes. Elmhurst edged the Thunder in an 80-79 victory for the Bluejays (15-7, 8-5 CCIW) as the two teams split the season series with each team winning on its home court. Wheaton (12-10, 6-7 CCIW) travels to North Park on Saturday afternoon for another key league matchup against the Vikings. Saturday's contest in Chicago will tipoff at 4:15 p.m.
Wheaton jumped out to an early lead, in fact the largest lead of the game was Wheaton's 12-point advantage when the guests held a 22-10 lead with 13:15 left in the first half. Thunder junior
Soren Richardson scored 12 of Wheaton's first 22 points.
The Thunder led by seven points at 26-19 with 10:35 left in the first half when Elmhurst's Dominic Trelenberg made a three-pointer that started a 13-2 run for the hosts as Elmhurst gained a 33-28 lead with 7:35 left before halftime. The Bluejays led the Thunder 44-40 at halftime tonight.
Richardson and Thunder freshman
Carson Grier (PICTURED LEFT) each led the guests with 13 points apiece in the first half. Grier shot 6-for-7 from the field in the first 20 minutes with a team-high four rebounds. Richardson led all players with four assists in the first half and
Devin Martin added three assists. Trelenberg shot 7-of-9 from the floor in the first half to lead all players with 19 points and he added five rebounds.
Elmhurst led for the entirety of the second half. The hosts' largest lead of the game was a 10-point bulge at 77-67 with 6:20 left in the game.
Brady Wynja made a layup with 6:03 left in the game to start a run of eight unanswered points. Following Wynja's basket, Richardson scored the game's next six points with two field goals and two free throws as the Thunder cut the Bluejays' lead to 77-75 with 3:50 remaining in the game.
Aidyn Boone drained a big three-pointer for the Bluejays to snap Wheaton's scoring streak, building the guests' lead to 80-75 with 3:32 left in the contest. Both teams had missed baskets over the next two minutes until Richardson ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer with 1:32 left in the game to cut the hosts' lead to 80-78. Elmhurst missed a three-point attempt on its next possession and Grier collected the rebound and was fouled with 50-seconds left. Grier made one of his two free throw attempts to trim the Elmhurst lead to 80-79.
Trellenberg was fouled with 28-seconds left and missed the first free throw of a one-and-one. Richardson gathered the rebound after the missed free throw to give Wheaton a chance to take its first lead of the second half. However, a Thunder turnover gave the hosts the ball back with 10-seconds left. Trelenberg was fouled again and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Wynja collected the key rebound after the missed free throw to give Wheaton an opportunity to win the game. The Thunder jumper as time expired was missed as the Bluejays escaped with the win.
Richardson was 8-for-13 in the second half, including 4-for-8 from three-point range, as he scored 23 points in the final 20 minutes. Richardson led all players tonight with 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field as he shot 6-of-10 behind the three-point arc. The 36 points scored by the junior tonight marks a season-high and is the third-highest single game scoring total of his stellar career. Tonight's effort trails only his 53 points at North Park on February 5, 2025, and his 37-point effort at Benedictine on November 9, 2024. Richardson's 36 points is the most scored in a CCIW men's basketball game this season eclipsing the 35 points scored by Millikin's Lane Thomann against Carthage (January 17), and the 35 points tallied by Illinois Wesleyan's Mason Funk at Carthage (December 3).
Grier shot 9-of-11 from the field tonight by scoring 21 points with eight rebounds. Wynja scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting tonight as he grabbed seven rebounds. Richardson, Martin, and
Reid Olson each had four assists for the guests.
Trelenberg led the Bluejays tonight with 23 points and nine rebounds. Luke Smith added 14 points for the hosts and EJ Marshall scored 12 points.
Wheaton posted a 55.6% (30-for-54) field goal percentage tonight, including 37.5% (9-for-24) behind the three-point arc. Elmhurst shot 46.4% (26-for-56) from the field, including 43.5% (10-for-23) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 71.4% (10-for-14) at the free throw line and the Bluejays had an 81.8% (18-for-22) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the hosts 32-29, however, the Bluejays had a 6-4 edge on the offensive glass.
