Wheaton, Ill. – The No. 24 ranked Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team opened night one of the 2022 Lee Pfund Classic with a 65-48 victory against Hanover College (1-2). The win improves the Thunder to 3-0 on the season.

Senior guard Tyson Cruickshank led all players with 21 points as he made five three-pointers. He tied for the team's rebound lead with eight and distributed a game-high five assists. Andrew Williams sparked the Thunder tonight with 10 points off the Wheaton bench, adding five rebounds with two assists. Nick Schiavello scored nine points, with six rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Eddie Scott scored eight points with four assists. TJ Askew scored tied Cruickshank for the team rebound lead with eight boards.

The Thunder shot 26-for-52 from the field (40.3%), including 35.7% (10-of-28) behind the three-point arc. Hanover shot just 27.0% (17-of-61) from the field, including 26.9% (7-of-26) from three-point range. Wheaton had a 55.6% (5-of-9) effort from the free throw line and Hanover shot 87.5% (7-of-8) at the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 42-40 edge in rebounding, with an 11-10 advantage on the offensive glass for the Panthers. The Wheaton offense had a successful night in transition with a 15-3 advantage in fast break points.

Hanover led early in tonight's contest and held a seven-point advantage at 15-8 with 12:55 remaining in the first half. Cruickshank hit a three-pointer, his first of the game, with 11:54 remaining in the half to trigger a 16-2 Thunder that helped Wheaton build a 24-17 lead with 6:20 remaining before halftime. Williams played a key role in the run with six points as he tallied three on an old-fashioned three-point play and he drained a three-point basket. Williams, Cruickshank and Eli Considine each made three-pointers in the scoring surge. Wheaton led the Panthers 29-27 at halftime. Williams led the Thunder with eight points in the first half and he contributed four rebounds in an energetic 10 minutes of action. Cruickshank and Askew each scored five points in the opening 20 minutes. Cruickshank also had five rebounds and four assists.

The Panthers clawed early in the second half to trim Wheaton's lead to one point at 33-32 with 16:19 remaining in the game. They was the closest to the guests would come. Scott made a basket after Hanover cut the lead to one point, and Scott's basket sparked nine unanswered points for the hosts as Wheaton built up a 10-point lead at 42-32 with 14:00 left in regulation. The 9-0 run was capped by a Connor Braun three-pointer. Wheaton held a double-digit lead for the majority of the remainder of the game in earning the 65-48 victory. Cruickshank scored 16 points in the second half to lead all players in scoring.

Wheaton will face John Carroll University (3-0) at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night in the championship game of the Lee Pfund Classic. Hanover will take on UW-River Falls (1-1) at 5:00 p.m. in the consolation game of the tournament. John Carroll defeated the Falcons of UW-River Falls 80-73 in the opening game tonight.