Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team picked up a conference win at home on Wednesday night as the Thunder defeated Carroll 58-54 in King Arena. Carroll falls to 9-8 on the season and 2-6 in CCIW play. The Thunder are now 11-6 overall and 5-3 in CCIW play.
Thunder sophomores Nyameye Adom and Tyson Cruickshank combined to score 44 of Wheaton's 58 points in the game. Cruickshank shot 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. He scored 22 points with four rebounds and two steals. Adom scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, with four assists.
Anajuwon Spencer tied his career-high with 11 rebounds, for the second-consecutive game. Spencer also dished out a career-high six assists in the win for the Thunder. Gavin Hawkins grabbed eight rebounds, including five offensive boards. Cade Alioth collected six caroms on the glass, with two blocked shots.
Wheaton posted a 46.3% (19-of-41) field goal percentage, including 50% (8-of-16) from three-point range. Carroll shot 42.9% (21-of-49) from the field, including 20% (2-for-10) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 57.1% (12-of-21) at the free throw line and the Pioneers had a 62.5% (10-for-16) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded Carroll 36-24, with a 9-5 edge on the offensive glass for the Thunder.
Wheaton led the Pioneers 9-8 with 13:05 left in the first half when a layup by Carroll's Nick Penny sparked a 15-3 run for the guests to give the Pioneers an 11-point lead at 23-12 with 9:00 left in the first half. Hawkins drained a three-pointer with 8:34 left in the first half to spark an 11-1 Wheaton run as Wheaton regained the lead at 26-24 with 3:48 left before halftime. The Thunder led 34-32 at the halftime intermission.
In the tightly contested, second half, neither team led by more than four points. The contest was tied on six occasions in the second half and the teams exchanged the lead six times.
The contest was tied 49-49 with 4:28 left in the game when Cruickshank made a three-pointer to give Wheaton a 52-49 lead. Carroll's Charlie Soule made a basket about one minute later and he made one of two free throw attempts approximately 40 seconds later to tie the game at 52-52 with 2:43 left in the game.
Adom drove to the basket for a layup with 1:52 remaining in regulation to give the hosts a 52-52 advantage. Penny's three-point attempt missed and went out of bounds to give Wheaton the ball. A basket by Adom on the ensuing possession extended Wheaton's lead to 56-52 with 58-seconds left in the game.
Carroll's Ryan Clarey made a pair of free throws with 27-seconds remaining to trim Wheaton's lead to 56-54. The Thunder turned the ball over on the possession that followed. Carroll's shot attempt to tie the game missed and Wheaton collected the key defensive rebound with 4.5-seconds remaining. Cruickshank made a pair of free throws to extend Wheaton's lead to four-points at 58-54. The Pioneers turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass that followed Cruickshank's free throws as Wheaton secured the win.
Penny led the Pioneers with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Soule scored 10 points with five rebounds.
Wheaton travels to Carthage on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. for a CCIW matchup with the Red Men.