Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team defeated No. 22 ranked Carthage College (17-7, 11-4 CCIW) on Wednesday in a critical CCIW matchup on Wednesday night inside King Arena. Tonight's victory is Wheaton's first win against a team ranked in the D3hoops.com Top-25 since the Thunder defeated No.15 Elmhurst University, 75-69 on January 13, 2024, in King Arena.

Wheaton's victory against the Firebirds tonight improves Wheaton to a 13-11 overall and 7-8 in CCIW play. Wheaton moves into a three-way tie for fourth place in the CCIW standings and the team is guaranteed a spot in the upcoming CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament that begins on Tuesday, February 24. If the Thunder can close out the regular season with a victory at home on Saturday against Millikin (at 7:15 p.m.) and depending on tiebreakers, Wheaton could finish as high as the No. 4 seed in the tournament and host a quarterfinal contest to open the tournament.

The Thunder opened the game strong as the hosts led 15-9 in the first four and half minutes. Junior Soren Richardson scored seven of Wheaton's 15 points in that run including a three-pointer to cap off the run at the 15:34 mark. Carthage responded with a 15-2 run as the Firebirds gained a 24-17 lead with 11:00 left in the first half. The guests led by nine points at 31-22 with 7:30 left in the first half, however Wheaton responded with a 12-2 run to give the hosts a 34-33 lead with 4:30 remaining before halftime. The run helped aid the Thunder to a 42-41 lead at halftime.

Richardson led all players with 15 points as he shot 7-for-11 from the field in the first 20 minutes. Devin Martin contributed eight points in the first half with 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Martin and Richardson each contributed two assists. Riley Brooks led Carthage in the first half with 11 points and six rebounds. Ryan Johnson tallied five assists for the guests in the first half.

Wheaton also started the second half strong as the hosts out-scored Carthage 9-2 in the first two minutes of the half to extend the Thunder lead to 51-43 with 17:56 remaining in the game. Carthage responded with its own 9-2 run as they trimmed Wheaton's lead to 53-52 with 15:20 left in the second half.

The Thunder led 58-57 with 12:30 left in the contest when Martin collected a defensive rebound and sparked a Thunder fast break with an assist that culminated in a layup by Brady Wynja. Wynja's basket started a key 17-4 Thunder that gave the 'Orange and Blue' their largest lead of the game with a 14-point bulge at 75-61 with 8:10 left in the game. Luca Carbonaro led Wheaton in scoring in the run with five points, while Wynja added four points. The run proved critical for Wheaton in the win as the closest the Firebirds could get in the remainder of the game was four points on two occasions in the final two minutes.

Richardson scored 16 points for the Thunder in the second half. Martin played a key role in the second half, playing all 20 minutes as he scored 11 points with three assists. Carson Grier scored nine points, with five rebounds, and two assists in the second half. Johnson led Carthage with 18 points in the second half and Brooks added 15 points.

Wheaton posted a 52.9% (36-for-68) field goal percentage tonight, including 31.6% (6-for-19) from three-point range. The Firebirds shot 56.4% (31-for-55) from the field, including 47.1% (8-for-17) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 75% (18-for-24) at the free throw line and Firebirds had a 72% (18-for-25) effort at the charity stripe.

The Thunder out-rebounded Carthage 33-31 tonight, including an 8-3 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton's inside game impressed tonight as they out-scored the Firebirds 54-34 in the paint. The Thunder defense forced 12 Carthage turnovers tonight, while the hosts only turned the ball over three times as Wheaton out-scored the guests 18-5 in points off turnovers.

Richardson led all players tonight with 31 points, adding four rebounds, three steals and three assists. Martin contributed 19 points with five assists and four rebounds. Carson Grier (highlights) and Kyan VanderWoude (highlights) each scored 12 points as Grier collected nine rebounds and VanderWoude added six. Carbonaro scored nine points with four rebounds in 12-and-a-half minutes off the Thunder bench. Noah Hedrick (highlights) scored seven points four boards off the Wheaton bench and Wynja added six points.

PLEASE NOTE: The Thunder men's basketball team will honor its seniors for "Senior Night" on Saturday approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled 7:15 p.m. tipoff against Millikin in the regular season finale.