Wheaton, Ill. - The senior duo of Tim McCrary and Jeremy Pflederer led an efficient offensive attack to give the Wheaton College men's basketball team a 74-44 victory over Augustana College on Tuesday.

The No. 22-ranked Thunder improved to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the CCIW. The No. 18-ranked Vikings fell to 19-6, 9-5 in conference.

Next up for the Thunder is this weekend's CCIW Tournament at North Central College. Wheaton is the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan University in a 5 PM semifinal on Friday. Saturday's championship game will start at 7:30 PM.

Wheaton was hot from the get-go. The hosts led 13-3 early on and then 21-7 in the first 11 minutes of the game. Augustana, meanwhile, missed its first seven shots and did not score a field goal until seven minutes in. The Vikings ended up shooting 18 percent in the half (4 of 22) compared to 48 percent by Wheaton (12 of 25).

The Thunder went into halftime up 33-17, thanks in large part to flexing its muscles in the paint. Wheaton owned a 19-12 advantage on the boards with eight of those collected by McCrary. The senior power forward added eight points and handed out five assists in the opening half. Pflederer complemented him on the perimeter with nine points.

A 16-4 Wheaton run in the second half featured 10 points in the paint and put the home team up 57-29. The Thunder continued to pour on the scoring to account for the final 30-point margin of victory.

Pflederer was in rhythm with his jumper the whole night, hitting four of eight from three-point range and 9 of 13 overall. The senior guard ended up with a game-high 22 points. On the inside, McCrary was just as effective in all facets. The All-American hitting 8 of 12 for 21 points, snagged 11 rebounds and made the extra pass to rack up eight assists.

Wheaton shared the ball to the tune of 18 assists and got hands up on defense with nine blocked shots. Spencer Schultze swatted three shots and added 10 points. Aaron Garriott chipped in nine points and five assists.

Overall, the Thunder shot 27 of 51 from the field (52.9 percent), 7 of 15 from three-point range (46.7 percent) and 13 of 15 on free throws (86.7 percent).

Augustana was held to 14 of 49 shooting (28.6 percent), including 1 of 12 from long distance (8.3 percent) while making 15 of 22 from the line (68.2 percent). Bryant Voiles led the Vikings with 13 points.