Wheaton (Ill.) men return to action with a 65-53 victory against Messiah

More news about: Wheaton (Ill.)
Dec 30, 2010

Phoenix, Ariz. – The Wheaton men's basketball team returned to action with its first game since December 11 on Thursday with a 65-53 victory against Messiah College in the Grand Canyon Classic. Wheaton is now 8-2 on the season, while Messiah falls to 5-4 overall. The Thunder will conclude its participation in the tournament on Friday at 4 PM (MST); 5 PM in Wheaton when the Thunder will face Husson College of Bangor, Maine.

Messiah jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes of the contest, however, the Thunder responded with an 18-2 run over a span of 11 minutes to take a 20-8 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first half. However, Messiah closed out the first half with a 12-0 run that saw the contest scored 20-20 at halftime.

Wheaton scored the first 12 points of the second half, led by nine consecutive points to open the half by Andrew Jahns. The Wheaton run sparked the Thunder to a 32-20 lead with 16:35 remaining in the second half. Wheaton was strong defensively in the second half as the Falcons' deficit never got closer than 10 points.

Jahns led the Thunder with 18 points, with 14 of those points coming in the second half. Jahns was a key force on the defensive end with five steals. Sophomore Jeremy Pflederer scored 11 points, with four assists and three steals. Tim McCrary registered his fifth "double-double" of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. The All-American added six assists and a blocked shot. Freshman Tyler Peters scored nine points, with four rebounds and Jon DeMoss added seven points in his return from an injury.

Christian DeVan and Jeremiah Runkle each scored 10 points to lead Messiah. Chris Yoder and Josh Hartman recorded nine points apiece for Messiah. Runkle led the Falcons with seven rebounds.

Wheaton shot 35.6% (16-45) from the floor, with 35.3% (6-17) from three-point range and a 73% (27-37) effort at the free throw line. Messiah posted a 43.3% (19-44) field goal percentage, with 35.7% (5-14) from three-point range and 66.7% (10-15) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Falcons with a 34-26 advantage, including a 12-4 edge on the offensive glass.