The Wheaton (Ill.) men's basketball team defeats UW-River Falls, 86-60

More news about: Wheaton (Ill.)

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with an 86-60 victory against UW-River Falls (2-1) in the championship game of the 2019 Lee Pfund Classic on Saturday evening in King Arena.

Tyson Cruickshank scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including three made three-pointers. The sophomore added eight points, two assists and two steals. Nyameye Adom scored 21 points, with seven rebounds and five assists. Adom was recognized as the Will Landry Tournament MVP and Cruickshank earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Thomas Lipscomb scored 15 points, making five three pointers, and he added five rebounds. Anajuwon Spencer tallied 13 points, with six rebounds and four assists. Cade Alioth scored seven points with seven rebounds and three assists. Collin Uveges was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field as he scored six points with four assists and four rebounds.

Wheaton out-scored the Falcons 36-18 in the paint tonight and the Thunder out-rebounded UWRF 43-33. Wheaton shot 50.8% (32-of-63) from the field, including 44% (11-of-25) behind the three-point arc. UW-River Falls posted a 34.5% (20-of-58) field goal percentage, including 20% (6-for-30) from three-point range. The Thunder posted an 84.6% (11-of-13) free throw percentage and the Falcons shot 60.9% (14-of-23) at the charity stripe.

Ross Ingersoll led the Falcons scored a team-high 14 points off the bench.Julian Jackson registered 12 points with seven rebounds. Matt Keller scored eight points with three assists and five rebounds. Ingersoll and Jack Stensgard each earned All-Tournament recognition.

The first eight minutes of the game were tightly contested as the Thunder led 12-11 with 12:05 left in the first half. The Thunder put together a 13-6 run to take a 25-17 lead with 8:10 remaining in the opening half. Wheaton led by as many as 15 points in the first half in a 38-23 Thunder lead with 2:45 remaining before halftime. The Falcons closed the first half with a 9-3 run as Wheaton led UWRF 41-34 at halftime.

Wheaton scored the first seven points of the second half as Cruickshank opened the scoring with a layup and Spencer drained a three-pointer. Spencer's three-pointer gave Wheaton a 12-point lead at 46-34 with 18:10 left in the second half as the Thunder led by double digits for the remainder of the game. The largest lead of the game for the hosts was a 30-point bulge at 86-56 with 1:52 remaining in the game.

The Thunder return to action at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night as Wheaton hosts Lake Forest in King Arena.