Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 66-63 victory in overtime on Saturday night at home against 12th-ranked Augustana. Wheaton snapped Augustana's 11-game win streak with the effort this evening and the loss drops the Vikings to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in CCIW play.
Wheaton now stands alone atop the CCIW standings with a 3-0 record in conference play and the Thunder improve to 10-4 overall. The perfect 3-0 record for the Thunder in conference play marks the first 3-0 start to the conference schedule for Wheaton since the 2008-09 season and it is only the third time the program begins league play 3-0 since 1998-99. Wheaton will travel to Carthage on Wednesday for a 7 PM tipoff against the Red Men.
Wheaton withstood an efficient effort by Augustana in the first half as the Thunder led 33-31 at halftime. The Vikings shot 58.3% (14-24) from the field in the opening half, but Wheaton capitalized on a 75% (12-16) effort at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
Wheaton held a narrow 38-37 lead with 15:30 remaining in the second half when the Thunder utilized an 8-0 scoring run to hold a 46-37 lead with 11:50 remaining in regulation. Brayden Teuscher scored five of Wheaton's points in the surge and Michael Berg added a three-pointer. Wheaton continued to hold onto its advantage and the largest lead of the game for the hosts was an 11-point bulge at 52-41 with 7:15 remaining in regulation.
Wheaton senior Tyler Peters converted a traditional three-point play with 4:27 remaining in regulation for a nine-point Wheaton lead at 57-48. Peters' points would be Wheaton's final points of the second half as Augustana scored the final nine points of regulation over a stretch of four minutes. All nine Vikings' points were the result of three-point field goals as Hunter Hill made a pair of trifectas and Mark Roth also scored a three-pointer.
The game was tied on three occasions in the overtime session and then Peters gave Wheaton the lead for good with a layup that allowed the hosts to lead 63-61 as 55-seconds remained in OT. A missed three-point attempt by the Vikings on the next trip down the court allowed for a defensive rebound by Teuscher who was fouled and made both free throws to increase Wheaton's lead to 65-61 with 35-seconds left. Augustana's Hill scored with 10-seconds left and the Vikings immediately fouled the Thunder. Peters made his first free throw and missed the second, which was rebounded by the Vikings. The guests missed a three-point attempt in the closing seconds to give Wheaton the victory.
Peter Smith, Teuscher and Peters each scored 16 points to lead the Thunder tonight. Smith grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Thunder and Peters distributed five assists. Nate Haynes scored eight points, with six rebounds and Michael Berg scored six points, with three rebounds.
Hill led the Vikings with 12 points and three assists. Ben Ryan scored 11 points and collected a game-high 13 rebounds for the guests. Nic Hoepfner scored 10 points off the Vikings' bench. Kevin Schlitter scored seven points and Tayvian Johnson tallied seven points, with eight rebounds.
Wheaton recorded a 36.5% (19-52) field goal percentage, including 31.3% (5-16) from three-point range and 67.6% (23-34) at the free throw line. The Vikings shot 42.9% (24-56) from the field, with 33.3% (4-12) from three-point range and 61.1% (11-18) at the charity stripe. Augustana out-rebounded the Thunder 41-34, with the Vikings holding a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass.