Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder basketball team turned in a hot-shooting performance on Saturday night to earn a 92-68 victory over the Elmhurst Bluejays at King Arena. Leading by 10 at halftime, the Thunder opened things up early in the second half and never look back in improving to 9-11 overall and 5-6 in the conference. Elmhurst is now 6-15 and 2-10 in the CCIW.

Wheaton shot an impressive 61.1% (33-54) from the field including 48.3% (14-29) on three-point attempts. The Thunder were 12-of-15 (80%) at the free throw line. Elmhurst shot 34.8% (24-69) and was just 31.8% (7-22) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays shot 72.2% (13-18) from the charity stripe. Wheaton narrowly outrebounded the Bluejays 37-34 despite being out-rebounded 16-5 on the offensive glass.

Elmhurst jumped out early on Saturday night, using an 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead in the opening minutes. The Bluejays held their lead until the midway point of the first half when a dunk by Trevor Gunter and an Aston Francis three-pointer gave Wheaton a 20-19 lead at the 10-minute mark. After Elmhurst retook the lead, a seven-point spurt bookended by a Spencer Peterson three-pointer and lay-up gave Wheaton a 29-25 and caused an Elmhurst timeout with 6:48 left in the half.
 
​Out of the timeout, an Eichelberger (PICTURED RIGHT) block and Francis three-pointer forced another Bluejay timeout and ran the lead to 32-25. A Gunter lay-up made it a 12-0 Wheaton run before Elmhurst was finally able to end its five-minute field goal drought with a three-pointer. Elmhurst got back to within six points on a Nathan Rogers but Wheaton answered with four straight points to pull ahead to a 42-32 halftime advantage.
 
Five straight points by the Thunder pushed the lead to 47-32 in the first minute of the second half. Five straight points by Ricky Samuelson and an Aston Francis three-pointer, his fifth of the night, pushed the Wheaton lead to 20 points at 55-35 just over three minutes into the half.
 
Leading 61-43 with 13:53 to play, an 11-0 run that saw Wheaton hold the Bluejays scoreless for nearly five minutes, pulling ahead to lead 72-43 on a Ricky Samuelson three-pointer. Wheaton would push the lead to as many as 30 points as the Thunder cruised to the 92-68 rout.
 
Aston Francis led all scorers with 20 points including five three-pointers and an impressive old-fashioned three-point play. Ricky Samuelson finished with 18 points and Trevor Gunter added 16 points and nine rebounds. Luke Peters had eight points to go with six assists. Kobe Eichelberger grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with six assists and five points. Derek Dotlich led the Bluejays with 17 points.
 
Wheaton will next be in action on Wednesday, February 8, when the Thunder travel south to face the Millikin Big Blue in Decatur at 7 pm.