Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton men's basketball team, ranked 18th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, earned a 94-73 win at home tonight against Carroll (5-14, 1-9 CCIW). Wheaton used a strong second half to rally from a halftime deficit. The Thunder out-scored the Pioneers 59-34 in the final 20 minutes of the game. The hosts shot a blistering 71.9% (23-for-32) from the field in the second half, including 55.6% (5-for-9) behind the three-point arc.
Wheaton improves to 15-4 overall and 7-3 in CCIW play as the Thunder prepare to head to North Central on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Cardinals in Naperville.
Thunder guard Tyson Cruickshank scored a team-high 26 points tonight. Cruickshank became the 47th player in program history to reach 1,000-point milestone with a three-pointer early in the second half. He shot 10-of-15 from the field tonight, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. He also distributed four assists, with four steals, two blocked shots and five rebounds.
Nyameye Adom scored 22 points for the Thunder, with a game-high six assists. Adom grabbed seven rebounds with two steals. Cade Alioth was a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field tonight, scoring 18 points, with three blocked shots. Collin Uveges scored nine points, Luke Anthony added eight points and Eli Considine tallied seven points for the hosts.
Wheaton shot 60.7% (37-of-61) from the field tonight, including 42.9% (9-of-21) behind the three-point arc. Carroll posted a 52.6% (20-of-57) field goal percentage, including 41.2% (7-for-17) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 73.3% (11-of-15) at the free throw line and the Pioneers shot 85.7% (6-for-7) at the charity stripe.
Carroll committed 14 turnovers tonight, helping the Thunder to a 30-9 scoring advantage in points off turnovers. Wheaton out-rebounded the Pioneers 29-26, including an 8-7 edge on the offensive glass.
Josh Hudgens led Carroll with a game-high 31 points, making three three-pointers. Aaron Wafford added nine points for the Pioneers.
Wheaton led 30-22 with 8:05 remaining in the first half when a layup by Wafford sparked a string of 12 unanswered points for the guests as Carroll took a 34-30 lead with 4:45 remaining before halftime. The Pioneers capitalized on the run to hold a six-point halftime lead at 39-33.
Hudgens led all scorers in the first half with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Cruickshank led the Thunder with 13 points in the first half. He shot 5-of-7 from the field, including 3-for-4 behind the three-point arc. Cruickshank also snagged two steals and distributed two assists in the opening half.
The Pioneers led by six points at 52-46 with 14:30 remaining in the game when Cruickshank drained a three-pointer in front of the Thunder bench to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Cruickshank's trifecta sparked a 32-5 Thunder that gave Wheaton a 21-point lead at 78-57 with 6:50 left in the game. Adom scored 13 of Wheaton's 32 points in the run and Cruickshank added eight points as the duo combined to score 21 of the hosts' 32 points.
Adom scored 14 points to lead the Thunder in the second half. Cruickshank scored 13 points, and Alioth added 10 points. Hudgens led Carroll with 11 second-half points.