Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team earned a 71-69 victory in overtime on Saturday night at home against fifth-ranked North Central College (16-3/5-3 CCIW). Tonight's game was played in front of an energetic, near-capacity crowd in Wheaton's King Arena. The crowd of 2,582 marked the second-largest regular season crowd in King Arena history since the facility opened in 2000-2001. Wheaton, ranked 25th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, improves to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in the CCIW. The Thunder will travel to North Park on Wednesday for a 7:30 PM tipoff against the Vikings.
Wheaton led the Cardinals 29-28 at halftime of tonight's game. The Thunder held a 36-35 lead with 15:50 left in regulation when a basket by Brayden Teuscher sparked a 13-4 Wheaton run that gave the hosts a 49-39 lead with 11:30 remaining in regulation. North Central countered with a 19-3 run over a span of 6:45 to take a 58-52 lead with 4:25 left in the second half.
A three-pointer by North Central's Aaron Tiknis gave the Cardinals a 63-55 lead with 2:18 remaining in regulation. Thunder junior Tyler Peters scored the next six points for the hosts in a 6-1 run that trimmed the Cardinals' lead to 64-61. Teuscher tied the game at 64-64 with a three-pointer with 35-seconds remaining in regulation. Each team committed a turnover on its final possession of regulation to force the overtime.
Tiknis made a pair of free throws for the guests to give NCC a 66-64 lead to open the overtime, but a basket by Peters tied it at 66-66 with 3:37 left. Tiknis and Wheaton's Nate Serenius traded baskets to force a 68-68 tie with 1:50 left in the overtime. Peters and North Central's Derek Raridon each made a free throw over the next 50-seconds to move the score to a 69-69 tie with 1:04 left.
Following, Raridon's free throw, Wheaton senior Nate Serenius missed a field goal, but hustled to get his own rebound and earn a trip to the free throw line with 27.5-seconds remaining. Serenius made the second of his two free throw attempts to give the "Orange and Blue" a 70-69 lead. Teuscher made a steal of the basketball on the Cardinals' next possession and was fouled with seven seconds left. Teuscher made the second of his two free throw attempts to increase Wheaton's lead to 71-69. The Wheaton defense locked down the Cardinals on North Central's final possession as the guests could not get a shot off in the time remaining as Wheaton earned the dramatic win.
Peters scored a game-high 20 points, with four assists to lead the Thunder. Teuscher scored 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and three assists. Michael Kvam scored 14 points, making four three-pointers, and six rebounds. Nathan Haynes scored eight points, with a game-high 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Peter Smith scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field and Serenius added three points.
Wheaton shot 51.1% (24-47) from the field, with 46.2% (6-13) from three-point range and 60.7% (17-28) at the charity stripe. North Central posted a 51% (26-51) field goal percentage, with 53.3% (8-15) from behind the three-point arc and 50% (9-18) at the free throw line. The Cardinals held a 30-28 edge in rebounding, with a 7-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
Raridon led North Central with 18 points and Vince Kmiec added 11 points. Landon Gamble scored 11 points, with eight rebounds and four assists. Tiknis scored nine points, with three assists.