Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton men's basketball team extended its win streak to nine games on Saturday night with a 72-71 victory at home against Illinois Wesleyan (8-8, 5-4 CCIW). Tonight's win marked the first time since 2019-20 that Wheaton has taken the regular season series between the two longtime rivals. The Thunder improve to 16-2 overall and 8-1 in CCIW play with tonight's win.

The game was tied at 69-69 with 16-seconds remaining in regulation when Wheaton guard Andrew Williams was fouled. The senior made the second of his two free throw attempts to give the hosts a 70-69 lead. The Titans' Cody Mitchell made a basket in front of the hoop with 4.8-seconds remaining in regulation to give his team a 71-70 lead. The Thunder quickly in-bounded the ball and guard Tyson Cruickshank brought the ball down the court and attempted a game-winning three-pointer from about 12-feet away from the top of the arc. Cruickshank was fouled on the shot attempt and awarded three free throws with 0.4-seconds remaining. Cruickshank made the last two of his free throw attempts to give Wheaton the 72-71 advantage that would result in the final score.

Cruickshank led all players with 21 points tonight, adding eight rebounds, with three assists. TJ Askew scored 17 points, while Nick Schiavello scored 12 points. Eddie Scott scored 10 points, making a game-high three three-pointers. Eli Considine contributed seven points.

The Thunder shot 34.5% (19-of-55) from the field, including 32.3% (10-of-31) behind the three-point arc. Illinois Wesleyan posted a 43.4% (25-of-53) field goal percentage, including 37.5% (3-for-8) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 72.7% (24-of-33) at the free throw line tonight, with the Titans shooting 73.3% (23-of-30) at the charity stripe. IWU out-rebounded the Thunder 43-30, including a 12-9 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton tied its season low with just five turnovers tonight, while the guests had 11 miscues. That played a key role tonight as the Thunder out-scored IWU 18-6 in points off turnovers.

Wheaton led the contest 7-2 in the first three minutes of the game. The Titans quickly tightened the game up and the contest was tied 9-9 with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The guests scored four unanswered points to take a 13-9 lead with 11:35 remaining before halftime.

Wheaton responded with an 12-2 run that saw Scott and Cruickshank each score four points as Wheaton gained a 21-15 lead with 8:34 remaining in the first half. It was then IWU that responded with a run of 10-2 as the Titans took a 25-23 lead with 4:13 remaining in the opening half when Scott hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 26-25 lead. The closing minutes of the half were tightly contested as the matchup was tied 35-35 at halftime.

The Titans out-scored the Thunder 9-1 in the first three minutes of the second half as the guests gained a 44-36 lead. IWU lead 46-39 with 15:30 remaining in regulation when Cruickshank made a three-pointer that sparked a 14-4 Thunder run that gave the hosts a 53-50 lead. The run was capped by another Cruickshank three-pointer with 11:38 remaining in the contest.

For the remainder of the game, neither team held a lead of more than three points. The matchup was tied 66-66 with 2:50 remaining when Askew made a layup to give the hosts a 68-66 advantage. Lucas Heflen of IWU made a three-pointer with 1:14 remaining to give IWU a one-point lead at 69-68. Askew was fouled on the Thunder possession that followed and made one of two free throw attempts to tie the game at 69-69 with 1:14 left. The score remained 69-69 in the dramatic final 20 seconds of the contest that setup Cruickshank's game-winning free throws.

Mitchell led Illinois Wesleyan with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Sroka scored 16 points with 10 rebounds and Harrison Willimsen added 12 points. Hakim Williams scored 10 points with five assists.

Wheaton travels to North Park on Wednesday for a key CCIW matchup against the Vikings (14-4, 7-2 CCIW). Wednesday's 7:00 p.m. tipoff in Chicago features the CCIW-leading Thunder against the second-place Vikings.