Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team took to the King Arena court on Saturday for a regular season contest for the first time since February 22, 2020; as the Thunder hosted Augustana in the 2021 season opener. Wheaton led for the majority of contest as the hosts topped Augustana 88-67.

Mike Schauer said of Wheaton and CCIW basketball and winter sports returning to competition, "We've spent a lot of hours since March on Zoom calls trying to figure out if we could ever do this and how to do it. So I am really thankful, not just for our administration, but also for the league and the willingness to try and let our athletes have a chance to compete." He concluded, "I really wanted to come into today with a grateful heart, that no matter what the outcome of the game was – I was thankful to be back playing games and competing. People may not realize the amount of work that goes into playing today's game, so I am thankful for the persistence and willingness to try and make it happen."

Nyameye Adom led the Thunder with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, including a trio of three-pointers. Adom added three assists and a pair of steals. His backcourt mate, Tyson Cruickshank added 20 points on an 8-of-14 effort from the field, including 4-for-8 behind the three-point arc. The junior guard added 10 rebounds and five assists to tally a "double-double".

Luke Anthony tallied 15 points with three assists. Four of Anthony's five field goals today were from behind the three-point line as he shot 4-of-7 behind the arc. Cade Alioth scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds, with four assists, Collin Uveges scored six points with three assists and Eli Considine added four points.

The Thunder shot an impressive 56.1% (32-of-57) from the floor, including 46.4% (13-of-28) from three-point range. Augustana posted a 43.5% (27-of-62) field goal percentage, including 35% (7-for-20) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 61.1% (11-of-18) at the free throw line, and the Vikings shot 50% (6-of-12) at the charity stripe. The Thunder out-rebounded the Vikings 36-29, with a 10-7 edge on the offensive glass for the guests.

Wheaton jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Thunder continued to extend the advantage as Wheaton's largest lead in the opening 10 minutes was an 18-9 edge with 13:21 remaining in the first half. The Vikings responded with 10 unanswered points over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 10:07 remaining in the opening half.

Augustana led 28-26 with 6:35 left in the first half when Cruickshank buried a three-pointer to spark a 19-5 Thunder run to close out the first half. The trio of Anthony (7), Cruickshank (6) and Adom (5) combined to score 17 of Wheaton's 19 points in the run as the Thunder led 45-33 at the halftime intermission. Adom led all players at halftime with 15 points in the opening half.

Augustana out-scored the Thunder 17-9 over the first seven minutes of the second half to cut Wheaton's lead to 54-50 with 13:00 left in the second half. Adom made a three-pointer with 12:30 left in the game to stem the guests' run and give Wheaton a 57-50 advantage. The hosts maintained an eight-point lead 67-59 with 7:46 left in the game when another Adom three-pointer keyed a 21-6 Thunder run. The run gave Wheaton its largest advantage of the game at 21 points as the Thunder led 86-65 with 1:28 remaining in the contest when Anthony made his third three-pointer in the stretch.

Carter Duwa led Augustana with 13 points, and Nate Ortiz added 12 points with four rebounds. Daniel Carr scored 10 points with eight rebounds. Justin Bottorff and Matt Hanushewsky each tallied eight points for the guests.

Wheaton returns to action Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. when Millikin hosts the Thunder in King Arena. The 'Orange and Blue' will entertain Millikin next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in King Arena.