Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team, ranked 13th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, defeated Carthage College 87-71 tonight in King Arena. The victory is Wheaton's fifth-consecutive win as the Thunder improve to 18-4 overall and 10-3 in CCIW play. The Firebirds fall to 9-13 on the year, with a 2-11 conference record.
Nyameye Adom led Wheaton tonight with 27 points, making a trio of three-pointers. The senior grabbed six rebounds, with two assists. Cade Alioth tallied 19 points, with 13 rebounds for his 16th 'double-double' of the season. Alioth also blocked three shots and dished three assists. Tyson Cruickshank scored 17 points, with nine rebounds and five assists. Nick Schiavello scored seven points off the Thunder bench, and Luke Anthony added six points.
The Thunder shot 46.8% (29-of-62) from the field, including 29.6% (8-for-27) from three-point range. The Firebirds posted a 40.8% (29-of-71) field goal percentage, including 38.5% (5-of-13) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 77.8% (21-of-27) at the free throw line, while Carthage had a 44.4% (8-of-18) effort at the line. Wheaton out-rebounded the guests 49-35 tonight, with each team collecting 11 offensive rebounds.
Fillip Bulatovic led Carthage with 24 points and seven rebounds. AJ Johnson scored 15 points for the guests, and Crishawn Cook added 11 points with three assists.
The contest was tied a 9-9 through the first seven minutes of the game. Adom drained a three-pointer with 12:42 left before halftime to give Wheaton a 12-9 lead. Wheaton never trailed following Adom's trifecta. The Thunder led by five points at 31-26 with 5:00 left in the first half when Adom made a layup that sparked a 7-2 run for the hosts to close out the half. Thanks to the late run Wheaton led Carthage by 10 at 38-28 during the halftime intermission.
Adom scored 13 points for Wheaton in the first half, adding two assists. Cruickshank scored 12 points, with six rebounds. Alioth collected seven first-half rebounds, with five points. Bulatovic led Carthage with 11 points and four rebounds in the first half.
Wheaton held a 12-point lead at 46-34 with 15:25 remaining in the second half when Alioth made a pair of free throws to start a 9-1 Thunder run that increased Wheaton's lead to 20 points at 55-35 with 12:48 remaining in the game. Wheaton continued to maintain control following the run. The largest Wheaton lead of the game was a 23-point bulge at 76-53 with 5:00 left in the contest.
Alioth and Adom each scored 14 points to lead Wheaton in the second half. Alioth collected six rebounds in the second half and Eli Considine grabbed five boards. Cruickshank had four second-half assists tonight.
Wheaton travels to No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan (18-4, 11-2 CCIW) on Saturday afternoon for critical CCIW matchup against the top two teams in the CCIW standings. Saturday's matchup in Bloomington tips off at 4:00 p.m.