Wheaton, Ill – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team held off a Carthage (8-8/2-3 CCIW) rally on Tuesday night as the Thunder earned a 79-73 victory against the Red Men. Wheaton, ranked 22nd in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25, has now won four consecutive games. The Thunder improves to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Wheaton will travel to North Park on Saturday for a 4 PM tipoff against the Vikings in Chicago.
Carthage held an early 6-5 lead through the first three minutes of the game, however, the Thunder responded with an 11-3 scoring run to take a 16-9 lead with 10:25 remaining in the first half. Wheaton remained in the lead for rest of the first half, as the hosts led by as many as nine points and held a 34-30 advantage at halftime.
The hosts held a three-point edge at 37-34 with 17:45 left in regulation when a Jeremy Pflederer three-pointer sparked a 20-7 Wheaton scoring run that pushed Wheaton's lead to 57-41 with 12:40 left in the contest. The Thunder shot 7-for-7 from the floor during their scoring run.
A basket by Thunder sophomore Jon DeMoss with 12:40 left in the game capped Wheaton's scoring surge and on the guest's next trip down the court Max Cary hit a basket for Carthage. Cary's field goal sparked Carthage's own 20-7 scoring run to cut the Thunder lead back to three points at 64-61 with 6:45 left in the game.
Thunder senior Spencer Schultze made a basket with 5:30 left in the game to give the hosts a 68-63 lead. Carthage responded with key baskets and free throws over the next two-and-a-half minutes to score eight unanswered points, allowing the Red Men to take a 71-68 lead. Tim McCrary made four free throws on Wheaton's next two possessions to give the Thunder a 72-71 lead with 2:30 remaining in the game.
The two teams traded field goals on the next two possessions, as Wheaton held a 74-73 lead with two minutes left in regulation. Pflederer made a pair of free throws with 40-seconds left in the game to extend the hosts' lead to 76-73. Over the next 23-seconds, Carthage missed a pair of three-pointers and Schultze made one of two free throw attempts with 17-seconds left in the game to extend the Thunder lead to 77-73. Following, Schultze's charity shot, Carthage missed a three-pointer and another field goal attempt and Pflederer came down with the key rebound for the Thunder with seven seconds left. Following the rebound, Wheaton had to in-bound the ball and a streaking Aaron Garriott got open for a layup as time expired to account for the 79-73 final score.
McCrary led the Thunder with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. The senior grabbed nine rebounds, with three assists and five steals. Pflederer made four three-pointers in a 14-point effort that saw him add six rebounds, with three assists. Schultze scored 12 points, with five rebounds. Garriott added nine points, with four assists.
Malcom Kelly led Carthage with 18 points and Reese Herth added 12 points. Mitch Thompson scored 12 points, with 10 rebounds and Tyler Pierce scored 11 points.
Wheaton shot 51.9% (28-54) from the field, including 68.2% (15-22) in the second half. The Thunder made 41.2% (7-17) of its three-point attempts and connected on 64% (16-25) of its free throw attempts. Carthage shot a 47.3% (26-55) field goal percentage, with 20% (3-15) from three-point range and 72% (18-25) at the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 31-30 edge in rebounding, with six offensive rebounds for each time.