Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton men's basketball team edged Elmhurst College 58-55 on Saturday night in King Arena. The Thunder closed out the game with a 16-5 run that culminated with an Aston Francis three-pointer with 35-seconds left in regulation to give Wheaton a 58-55 lead that would become the final score. The thrilling game had 19 lead changes and was tied on eight occasions.

Luke Peters played his customary exceptional defense tonight and contributed eight points with nine rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots. Peters blocked an Elmhurst three-point attempt in the closing seconds of the game and collected the rebound to secure the three-point win for the Thunder.

Francis led the Thunder with 22 points with 11 rebounds to record his eighth "double-double" this season. Francis made a pair of free throws midway through the second half to reach the 2,000-career point milestone. The senior is the fourth Wheaton player in program history to achieve the milestone and the 17th player in the history of the CCIW to reach 2,000 points as he now has 2,005 career points.

Anajuwon Spencer made three three-pointers, scoring nine points with eight rebounds. Nyameye Adom scored nine points for the hosts. Trevor Gunter blocked three shots and grabbed six rebounds, including five offensive boards.

Wheaton shot 32.2% (19-of-59) from the field tonight, including 31% (9-of-29) from three-point range. Elmhurst posted a 33.3% (22-of-66) field goal percentage, including 18.5% (5-of-27) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton had a 73.3% (11-of-15) effort at the free throw line and Elmhurst shot 66.7% (6-of-9) at the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 45-42 advantage in rebounding, with each team gathering 13 offensive rebounds.

Jeremy Ireland led Elmhurst with a "double-double" as he scored 21 points with 12 rebounds. Pavlos Marakis scored 11 points with seven rebounds for the guests and Derek Dotlich tallied 10 points.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the first half as there were nine lead changes in the first 20 minutes with the score tied on four occasions. The Bluejays held a narrow one-point lead 25-24 during the halftime intermission.

The first six minutes of the second half remained tightly contested. The Thunder led 34-33 with 14:13 remaining in the game when Elmhurst's Derek Dotlich made a basket that sparked nine-consecutive points for the guests to give Elmhurst a 42-34 lead with 10:45 remaining in the game. 

Elmhurst led by eight points at 50-42 with 6:51 remaining in the game when Gunter scored on a layup from a Francis assist under the basket. Gunter's basket was the start of Wheaton's key 16-5 run to close out the game. Following Gunter's layup, Spencer made three three-pointers in a span of 1:51. Spencer's third trifecta with 4:16 remaining in regulation gave Wheaton a 53-52 lead.

Both teams were scoreless over the next few minutes. Ireland drained a three-pointer with 1:34 remaining in the game to give Elmhurst at 55-53 lead. Francis was fouled on Wheaton's next possession and he made two free throws to tie the game at 55-55. On Elmhurst's next possession, the Elmhurst's missed a three-point attempt and another field goal attempt that was rebounded by Adom. Wheaton brought the ball down the court and Francis drained the game-winning three-pointer off a hand-off from Gunter with 35-seconds remaining in the game. Francis' trey gave Wheaton the 58-55 lead.

Ireland missed a three-point attempt on Elmhurst's next possession and Peters gathered the rebound for the Thunder. The Bluejays fouled Peters with 11-seconds remaining in regulation. He missed his opening free throw attempt and Dotlich gathered the rebound for the guests. Rhode attempted a three-pointer with four seconds left in the game and Peters blocked the shot and collected the rebound as time expired for Wheaton to earn the win.

Wheaton has won six games in a row against the Bluejays. Elmhurst is now 11-10 on the season and 6-6 in CCIW play, while Wheaton improves to 16-6 overall and 9-4 in conference action.