Chicago, Ill. -- Coming off of matchups against the fellow suburban programs of North Central and Elmhurst, the Wheaton men's basketball team completed its Chicagoland circuit on Saturday afternoon by heading into the Windy City to take on the North Park Vikings. This evening's game maintained two patterns of the Thunder's season, as the team scored over 90 points for the sixth time this year and contested its ninth conference battle that was decided by no more than two possessions. The hosting Vikings eventually claimed a narrow 95-92 result on their Senior Night to earn a season split with their guests. Heading into the final week of the regular season, Wheaton's overall record is 12-11 and 6-8 in league action, while North Park owns a 14-9 overall mark and edged in front of the Thunder in the CCIW standings today with its seventh conference win.
The Orange and Blue got off to a fast start in Saturday's meeting, carving out an early 8-2 lead that was capped by a three-pointer from the league's leading scorer,
Soren Richardson. The hosts responded with the next five points to stay within touching distance, but Wheaton rattled off another 6-0 surge via three paint layups to remain in front. A bucket on the fast break by Richardson combined with an and-one lay-in from
Devin Martin at the 13:00 mark of the first frame gave the Thunder their largest lead of the contest at 19-9. But the top scoring offense in the CCIW answered back with a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to trim Wheaton's lead down to two points. After trading baskets in the following possessions, the second of North Park's five first-half three-pointers flipped the lead in the hosts' favor at 26-25, and this triple kick started a 9-0 spurt.
Trailing 35-29 with five minutes remaining in the half, Wheaton continued to press home its advantage in the interior with three more close-range baskets. The Thunder simultaneously put the clamp down on the Vikings' attack, holding NPU scoreless on five straight possessions to reclaim a narrow lead. The two sides exchanged scores in a furious flurry over the next 70 seconds, before another lane layup with 25 to play made it 44-42 in Wheaton's favor. But the Vikings got the last laugh of an action-packed first half with a triple on their final trip down the floor and entered the halftime locker room up by one point.
Despite conceding the first points of the second period, the Thunder once again began the half quickly, mounting an 8-0 surge to build a 52-47 edge. Their lead hovered around five points until two free throws, a steal, and a quick conversion on the fast break got the hosts back within one seven minutes into the frame. Wheaton then put together another 6-0 run from three-consecutive paint layups punctuated by a basket from
Brady Wynja (
pictured right). But the visitors were unable to ever fully pull away from their talented hosts, as North Park kept finding answers on the offensive end to remain within striking distance. The Thunder held a 77-72 advantage with
just over seven minutes remaining in regulation, but the big city side rattled off the next eight points to flip the script and get the home crowd involved.
Wheaton was able to slow North Park's momentum in the subsequent exchanges and regained a one-point lead heading into the final five minutes of play. The next three minutes of game time were played entirely in and around the paint, with the two squads trading interior baskets and free throws and neither side able to build a lead larger than three points. The Thunder owned a 90-87 edge with 2:20 on the clock, but the Vikings outscored their suburban visitors, 8-2, down the stretch to secure a key conference victory.
Two foul shots and a clutch three-pointer gave NPU a two-point advantage at the one-minute mark, but Richardson answered this sequence with Wheaton's final basket of the night via a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 92-92. After winding some time off the clock on the ensuing possession, North Park's star guard responded with a successful jump shot of his own with 20 seconds remaining. Wheaton got an open look in the corner for three on its next trip, but this effort missed the target, and the Vikings secured the rebound and drew a foul to head to the free throw line.
With a chance to ice the game away, North Park's shooter missed the first of his two attempts, giving the Thunder one more opportunity to tie the game and send it into overtime. But the Vikings' stingy defense ensured that a half-court heave was the best look that the visitors could get on their last shot, and the attempt bounced off the back iron to confirm the hosts' dramatic and hard-fought win.
Wheaton tallied a 58% shooting mark this evening, including a noteworthy 63.64% figure in the second half, and dominated on the inside, putting up an impressive 70 points in the paint while allowing 46 at the other end. The Thunder also won the rebounding and turnover battles and registered small advantages in second chance scoring and points off of turnovers. But the game was decided from the three-point and free throw lines, as North Park racked up 27 points beyond the arc compared to just nine for the visitors and held a 16-9 edge in free throw scoring. The Vikings also finished with a field goal tally above 50% and enjoyed meaningful disparities in bench production and fast break points on Saturday.
Richardson led all players in scoring for the third-straight game with a 29-point performance on 12-21 shooting this evening while collecting five rebounds and putting in another 100% outing at the foul line.
Kyan VanderWoude tallied 23 points on a clinical 10-15 field goal mark and matched Richardson on five boards to go with three assists. Wynja earned the first double-double of his Thunder career thanks to his work on the offensive glass, registering 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while making all five of his shot attempts.
Carson Grier finished with 16 points on 8-13 shooting, six boards, three dimes, and led all participants with four steals.
With their regular season road slate now in the books, the Thunder will return to King Arena for two pivotal contests next week. Wheaton hosts conference co-leaders Carthage College for a 7 PM game on Wednesday before welcoming Millikin University to town next Saturday for its Senior Night fixture.
