Rock Island, Ill. -- The calendar may have turned to a new month on Wednesday, but the tricky conference road trips kept on coming for the eighth-ranked team in the country. Wheaton traveled west to Rock Island this evening to face Augustana in their third consecutive game away from home. The Thunder had to take care of business the hard way in a tight matchup, but the team eventually secured a two-point victory in a 74-72 win to move to 18-3 overall on the season and claim their tenth win in CCIW play. Coupled with North Park's overtime defeat to Millikin tonight, the Thunder are now back in sole possession of first place atop the conference standings.

Eli Considine led all players with 22 points in tonight's game, and the senior guard added five rebounds, three assists, a steal, and one blocked shot. He was a perfect seven-for-seven from the free throw line on Wednesday, which proved pivotal in the Thunder's ultimate one-possession win. Tyson Cruickshank notched another 20-point showing and led the game with four assists in addition to his four boards and one takeaway. TJ Askew registered 15 points, a team-high six rebounds, and blocked one attempt. Andrew Williams was the fourth Wheaton player to reach double-figures in scoring tonight, going for 11 points, three dimes, a pair of rebounds, one steal, and one block.

Both teams had a solid shooting performance, as Wheaton posted a 49% figure from the floor and Augustana was close behind at 48.2%. The Thunder converted six three-point attempts to the Vikings' three, but Augie edged Wheaton in free throw shooting percentage at 75% to 71.4%. The hosts out-rebounded Wheaton by a margin of ten, but the away side did well to hang on to the ball, only committing six turnovers and forcing 11. The Vikings held the advantage in most of the box score categories, including a resounding 33-2 edge in bench points, but the Thunder posted 13 points off of turnovers to Augustana's nine.

Askew got the visitors on the board in their first possession of the game, but neither side managed to seize any extended stretch of momentum in the first half. Wheaton's largest lead of the period was seven, but Augustana managed to wipe out this advantage by halftime. The two teams traded baskets early on, and Askew answered an Augie three with a long-range jumper of his own to put the Thunder up 22-17 at the 10:00 mark. A pair of free throws a minute later moved the scoreline up to 24-17, but the home side then scored on back-to-back trips to stay within reach. Considine dropped in a two to extend the Thunder's edge back up to seven points, before Augie managed to keep their guests off the scoreboard for three and a half minutes to pull back within two. A three-ball at the three minute mark tied the game at 30, and the hosts made up a four-point deficit in the final 1:15 to level the tally up at 36-36 as the buzzer sounded.

Askew and Williams combined for the first four points of the second half to get the Thunder off on the right foot coming out of the locker room. Considine dropped in a jump shot in the paint to restore Wheaton's four-point edge with 16 minutes remaining, but the Vikings promptly mounted an 8-0 run to flip the script over the next four and a half minutes. Cruickshank responded with a much-needed three-pointer to end Wheaton's drought, and after four minutes of back-and-forth basketball, a free throw conversion by Considine put the guests in front for good. Once again, Wheaton managed to pull ahead by seven points and the lead reached eight after Cruickshank splashed in a three with 1:34 left to play. But Augustana refused to acknowledge that they were beaten and showed plenty of resilience down the stretch. A Nick Schiavello free throw gave Wheaton a 73-68 edge with 35 seconds left, before Augie drew fouls on consecutive possessions and made all four free throws to set up a nervy ending. TJ Askew registered Wheaton's final point of the night from the charity stripe, but two misses on the line soon after gave the Vikings a chance to complete a remarkable comeback on the last possession of the game. Attempting to go coast-to-coast with five seconds on the clock, Augustana made it to Wheaton's half of the court, but the Thunder had it covered and the Vikings lost possession of the ball to confirm Wheaton's narrow victory.

Wheaton will return to King Arena for their next matchup. The Thunder host Millikin on Saturday for their Senior Night game, which is scheduled to tip off at 7:15 pm.