Naperville, Ill. -- Coming off of two impressive home wins in conference play, it was time for the #18 team in the country to prove their mettle on the road. Facing off against a red-hot North Central team that had not lost since the last time these two sides met, Wheaton men's basketball shrugged off an early deficit, showed grit and determination, and left their neighbors' house with a critical victory. Thanks to tonight's 75-71 win over the Cardinals, the Thunder improve to 16-4 overall, 8-3 in conference play, and now occupy second place in the CCIW standings. Nyameye Adom led all scorers with 26 points, and Cade Alioth and Tyson Cruickshank both posted double-doubles in an impressive team performance on Saturday.

Wheaton outperformed North Central by a 43.1%-38.7% split in field goal percentage, as well as winning the rebounding battle, 41-35. Neither team had a remarkable night from range, with North Central posting a 29% mark from three-point land despite starting the game on fire, and Wheaton settling for a 26% total. The Cardinals also edged the Thunder in free-throw percentage, 77.8%-75%. Points in the paint and second chance points both fell the way of the visitors, as Wheaton outgained North Central 28-24 and 6-3, respectively. But the home side earned narrow advantages in the points off of turnovers, fast break points, and points off the bench categories. Both squads saw double-digit leads evaporate over the course of a rollercoaster contest.

Knowing that a North Central win would see the Cardinals take sole possession of second place in the standings, the Thunder could not have imagined a more difficult beginning to Saturday's matchup. Both teams initially struggled to create anything offensively, before an Eli Considine three-pointer gave Wheaton a 3-2 edge two minutes in. But the home side proceeded to light up the scoreboard, mounting an 18-2 run over the next six minutes of play. North Central's conference-leading scorer, Matt Helwig, dropped in five threes during this stretch and Wheaton went a dismal 0-9 from the field. The Cardinals pushed the tempo and unsettled their ranked opponents on both ends of the floor. The situation was bleak for the Thunder, until a steal from Cruickshank led to an Adom layup to finally end the scoreless drought at the 11:45 mark of the first half. After another Helwig bomb, jumpers from the aforementioned Wheaton guards cut the scoreline to 20-9 in the hosts' favor halfway through the first period. Three minutes of scoreless play followed, as North Central's shooting finally cooled off and the Thunder tried to decipher their best point of attack. Cruickshank and Adom continued to do the heavy-lifting in scoring, until Luke Anthony knocked down a three-ball with six minutes remaining to reduce North Central's advantage to six. A quick 7-2 run for the Cardinals gave the impression that the first half would simply be a missed opportunity for the Thunder, but Wheaton managed to flip a switch down the stretch and avoided going into the locker room with a shortage of confidence. Capped by a Cruickshank three-pointer, an 11-0 run for the guests over the next three minutes of play saw Wheaton tie the score at 29 apiece near the two minute mark of the half. Both teams missed shots in the subsequent possessions, but Nyameye Adom splashed one in from range with 26 seconds remaining to put the Thunder ahead. Some tight man-marking from Wheaton, combined with a lack of time management from North Central, prevented the hosts from even getting a shot off as the clock wound down. After trailing by 15 points nearly midway through the first half, Wheaton now led by three at the break.

The second half began with a 6-1 run by the Thunder to give them their largest lead up to that point at 38-30. The two sides traded baskets in the following minutes, as North Central refused to surrender on their home court without a fight and Wheaton refused to give up their hard-earned lead. A layup courtesy of Adom just over five minutes into the half saw the traveling side register their first double-digit advantage of the contest at 46-36. The scoreboard hovered around this margin until North Central mounted a charge halfway through the second period. After drawing a foul on a contested three, the Cardinals' Blaise Meredith converted all three free throws. In the run of play that followed, two missed shots, three turnovers, and four consecutive North Central layups meant that Wheaton's ten-point edge disappeared. After another free throw for the home side, Cade Alioth swished a pair of his own to put Wheaton back on top, 55-54, at the eight-minute mark. A Collin Uveges three-point effort on the Thunder's next possession teased another Wheaton momentum swing, but the hosts answered with a 6-0 run of their own to move back in front. Luke Anthony then converted a jumper in the paint to tie the score at 60 with five minutes to play. With the count at 64-63 in Wheaton's favor, Alioth made two more free throws with 1:55 left. After twice stopping North Central from scoring on their next possession, Cruickshank earned a jumper in the paint to give the away team a five-point edge with just over a minute to go. But Helwig immediately responded with a three, and Wheaton's job was not finished yet. The Thunder intentionally got the ball into Nyameye Adom's hands on their last two possessions of the game, and on both occasions, the star veteran held his nerve from the free-throw line. A moonshot from Helwig with five seconds left gave the hosts a glimmer of hope, but Adom wrapped up the game from the charity stripe just as he did in the first meeting between these two teams in Wheaton. After mounting a furious comeback in the first half, then needing to defend a sizable lead in the second, the Thunder showed some essential resolve down the stretch to hold off their talented challengers and pick up their third straight conference win.

Adom's 26-point effort saw him pass the 1,400 career points mark, becoming the 27th player in program history to earn that total. The senior added six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and one steal. Tyson Cruickshank's 14 points on the night was enough to leapfrog him past his current head coach in the all-time Thunder scoring list. He collected ten rebounds to complete his double-double, while also earning five assists, a block, and a takeaway. Cade Alioth also hit double-figures in points and boards, posting 11 of each to go with one block, steal, and assist. Collin Uveges earned seven points of his own, as well as one block and one rebound. Eli Considine had another balanced performance, going for six points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Luke Anthony played a critical role coming off the bench, contributing 11 points and a pair of takeaways. 

Riding high on a three-game win streak, the Wheaton men's basketball team will look to avenge their home loss to Augustana on January 12th when they travel to Rock Island next Wednesday.