Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team opened its conference schedule with a 62-55 victory against Carthage College on Wednesday night at home. Wheaton is now 10-2 on the year and 1-0 in conference play, while Carthage falls to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW. Wheaton will travel to North Central College on Saturday night for a 7:30 PM with the Cardinals and Carthage will host Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday night.

Wheaton led 8-6 with just seven minutes into the game, when the Red Men put together an 18-4 run that allowed the guests to hold a 24-12 edge with five minutes left in the first half. Carthage led the Thunder 29-18 at halftime.

Wheaton out-scored the Red Men 15-4 over the first six minutes of the second half to tie the game at 33-33. Over the next 8:25 the two teams battled back-and-forth with three ties and three lead changes. Wheaton led by one point at 46-45 with 5:35 left in the game when forward Tim McCrary cut to the basket for a layup and was fouled on the play. Additionally, Carthage was charged with a technical foul following the basket. Senior Andrew Jahns made both technical foul shots and McCrary made his ensuing free throw for the foul, as the series of events gave Wheaton five points to push the hosts' lead to 51-45. On Wheaton's next possession, Jahns made a layup to extend his team's lead to 53-45. Carthage got within three points of the Thunder at 55-55 with 26-seconds left, however, the guests could get no closer as Wheaton shot 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the final minute to secure the victory.

Head coach Mike Schauer noted after the game, "I thought we looked a little tight in the beginning of the game." Schauer continued, "The first half defense by Jon DeMoss and Tyler Peters on Steve Djurickovic was really important because we didn't want Andrew Jahns to have to play him in the first have once he got his first foul. I thought Jon and Tyler played good enough defensively to give us a chance in the second half." The Thunder mentor added, "I thought Tim McCrary just absolutely took over in the second half. Just about everything we did in the second half went through him."

McCrary led all scorers with 26 points, including a critical 18-point effort in the second half. The Thunder All-American grabbed eight rebounds and distributed five assists. Jahns tallied 12 points, with five rebounds and three assists. Peters came of the Thunder bench to contribute 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Jeremy Pflederer scored seven points, with six rebounds and three assists.

Djurickovic led Carthage with 19 points and five assists. Malcom Kelly added nine points, with six rebounds. Mitch Thompson was the leading rebounder for the Red Men with eight boards.

Wheaton shot a 46.8% (22-47) effort from the field, including 62.5% (15-24) in the second half as McCrary was 8-for-11 from the floor following halftime.  The Thunder recorded a 28.6% (2-7) three-point effort and shot 88.9% (16-18) at the charity stripe. Carthage shot 37.2% (16-43) for the game, with 27.8% (5-18) from three-point range and 69.2% (18-26) at the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the Red Men 33-24, with a 6-3 edge on the offensive glass.