Kenosha, Wis. – The Wheaton men's basketball team defeated Carthage College (7-12, 2-8 CCIW) on Saturday night 81-64. Wheaton has won seven of its last eight games and now owns a 15-5 overall record with an 8-3 CCIW record.
Four Thunder players scored in double digits tonight. Junior Anajuwon Spencer led the Thunder with a career-high 22 points in 28 minutes of playing time. Spencer was 8-of-15 from the field. Including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Spencer added six rebounds and four assists.
Aston Francis scored 19 points with eight rebounds. Luke Anthony scored 12 points off the Thunder bench and Nyameye Adom tallied 10 points for the guests. Luke Peters scored six points, with a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists.
Wheaton shot 42.9% (30-of-70) from the floor tonight, including 35.7% (10-of-28) behind the three-point arc. Carthage posted a 40.7% (24-of-59) field goal percentage, including 26.7% (4-of-15) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 68.8% (11-of-16) from the free throw line and the Red Men had a 54.5% (12-for-22) effort at the charity stripe. The Thunder held a 43-39 edge in rebounding, including a 13-8 advantage for the guests on the offensive glass.
Carthage led early tonight with a 10-3 advantage with 15:20 left in the first half. A three-pointer by Spencer with 14:43 left in the half sparked a string of 12 unanswered points for the Thunder as Wheaton led 15-10 with 11:50 remaining in the opening half. The 12-0 run consisted of eight points by Spencer on two three-pointers, a layup, and four points from Francis who made a pair of layups.
Wheaton led 23-17 with 9:00 left in the first half, but the Red Men put together a 10-4 run to tie the game at 27-27 lead with 3:35 left in the first half. Wheaton countered with the final seven points of the first half to lead Carthage 34-27 at halftime.
Wheaton never trailed in the second half. A Luke Peters basket with 4:04 left in the game capped a 9-1 Thunder run that improved Wheaton's lead from 62-53 to 71-54. The Thunder maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.
Kienan Baltimore led Carthage with 19 points and three assists. Jordan Kedrowski scored 14 points with eight rebounds and three assists for the hosts. Sean Johnson scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and Mike Canady grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Wheaton returns to Wisconsin Wednesday to face Carroll. Wednesday's contest tips off at 7:00 p.m. in Waukesha.