ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's basketball team slid to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the CCIW after its' second-half rally came up short in an 86-77 loss to Wheaton College.

Leading by just two points with 14:37 left to play, Wheaton (13-6, 6-2 CCIW) used a 20-6 run over the next six minutes to open up a 16-point cushion at 71-55. Tyler Peters keyed the run for the Thunder by scoring 11 of the squad's 20 points.

Elmhurst slowly chipped away at the lead, using a 16-6 run sparked by five points from Taylor Baxter to pull to within six points with 2:39 left. Wheaton hit seven free throws in the final 1:28 to pull away and preserve the victory.

Elmhurst outshot Wheaton 46.7 percent (28-of-60) to 44.6 percent (25-of-56), but the Thunder shot 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from downtown compared to Elmhurst's 28.6 percent (4-of-14). The Thunder went to the free throw line 40 times and converted 29 attempts. The Bluejays hit 17-of-24 attempts from the foul line.

Nick Sanford led Elmhurst in the loss with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Wuest added 14 points while Taylor Baxter scored 13. Erik Crittenden added a season-high nine points for the Bluejays.

Wheaton's Tyler Peters, Brayden Teuscher and Nate Haynes combined for 59 of the team's 86 points. Peters pumped in 21 points while Tuescher added 20. Haynes finished with a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Elmhurst travels to Millikin University on Saturday, February 1.