Texas Lutheran (1-1) trailed by 12 at the half but made a late second-half run and cut the Wheaton lead to three, 62-59, on a Tommy Stolhandske layup with 2:30 to play.
Still trailing by three, TLU had two possessions with the ball but could produce no points. The Bulldogs finally had to foul with 14 seconds to play, and Wheaton’s Jonathan Steven hit both free throws to account for the final score.
Steven was named the tournament’s most valuable player. He had 16 points in the first half and finished the game with 22.
Wheaton improved to 2-0 and won its fourth consecutive Lee Pfund Classic title.
Texas Lutheran, which received votes in the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25, collected 16 points from Nik Summers and 16 from Stolhandske. Summers, the junior guard, had 14 at the half.
Stolhandske, the Bulldogs’ senior post, grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Texas Lutheran trailed by 11 points with less than six minutes to play, but back-to-back three-pointers by Mike Ekanem and Will Hudson quickly brought the Bulldogs within five of Wheaton, at 58-53.
Wheaton scored on consecutive possessions, on a Martin Trimiew dunk and a Steven jumper, to push its lead to nine.
But Texas Lutheran had one more run left in the game. The Bulldogs scored on their next three possessions. Ekanem stole the ball and converted the Wheaton turnover into a breakaway layup, and Stolhandske scored inside on the next two TLU trips down the floor.
Wheaton prevailed in the final 2:30 with the help of a TLU turnover and missed shot and a Wheaton offensive rebound.
Texas Lutheran returns to Texas to prepare for Wednesday’s game with NCAA Division I University of Texas-San Antonio, the defending Southland Conference Tournament champion and 2004 NCAA Tournament qualifier. Tip-off in San Antonio is set for 7:30 p.m.
Texas Lutheran vs Wheaton College 11/20/04 8:00 PM at Lee Pfund Classic - King Arena At Lee Pfund Classic - King Arena WHEATON COLLEGE 64, TEXAS LUTHERAN 59 TEXAS LUTHERAN (1-1) Nik Summers 6-12 2-2 16; Tommy Stolhandske 6-10 4-5 16; Will Hudson 4-9 0-0 10; Mike Ekanem 3-6 2-3 9; Matt Nelson 2-4 0-0 4; Jerrod Carpenter 2-3 0-2 4; Jason Morales 0-1 0-0 0; Kevin Glienke 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 8-12 59. WHEATON COLLEGE (2-0) Steven, Jonathan 9-15 2-2 22; Raymond, Kent 4-9 2-2 12; Nielson, Jon 4-8 2-3 11; Trimiew, Martin 2-7 3-6 7; Trenz, Luke 2-2 0-0 4; Lettinga, Andrew 1-4 1-2 3; Bollier, Tony 1-3 0-0 3; Fiddler, Michael 1-2 0-0 2; Bennett, Luke 0-0 0-0 0; Bishop, Kevin 0-0 0-0 0; Fortosis, Jim 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 10-15 64. Texas Lutheran................ 31 28 - 59 Wheaton College............... 43 21 - 64 3-point goals-Texas Lutheran 5-14 (Nik Summers 2-3; Will Hudson 2-4; Mike Ekanem 1-3; Jason Morales 0-1; Kevin Glienke 0-2; Matt Nelson 0-1), Wheaton College 6-20 (Raymond, Kent 2-5; Steven, Jonathan 2-6; Bollier, Tony 1-3; Nielson, Jon 1-3; Lettinga, Andrew 0-1; Trimiew, Martin 0-2). Fouled out--Texas Lutheran-None, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-Texas Lutheran 26 (Tommy Stolhandske 11), Wheaton College 31 (Nielson, Jon 7). Assists-Texas Lutheran 10 (Nik Summers 3), Wheaton College 13 (Lettinga, Andrew 3; Trimiew, Martin 3). Total fouls-Texas Lutheran 15, Wheaton College 13. Kalamazoo: Tony Wichmann. Texas Lutheran: Tommy Stohlhandske and Mike Ekanem Wheaton: Jon Nielson, Martin Trimie and Tournament MVP Jonathan Steven. Wheaton wins the 9th Annual Lee Pfund Classic.