Trailing by 11 with under two minutes to play, the Ephs put together a comeback of their own but in the end were held off by Nielson and the Thunder.
A three pointer by Kent Raymond gave Wheaton a 74-63 lead with 1:57 to go, but senior tri-captain Tucker Kain knocked down a quick three to pull the Ephs within nine with 1:40 to play. After senior tri-captain Michael Graham successfully drew a charge, senior tri-captain Jaris Cole found Kain in the paint for a quick lay-in.
Trailing by just six with 1:20 to play, the Ephs looked to foul. Jonathan Stevens was unable to convert the 1-and-1 opportunity giving the Ephs possession down 74-68. Kain then came up big again, bringing Chandler Gymnasium to its feet by draining a deep three and getting fouled in the process. He hit the free throw to complete the rare four point play, cutting the Thunder lead to two, 74-72.
Tony Bollier then hit the shot of the game for the Thunder. After winding the shot clock down to eight seconds, Bollier was able to drive the lane and pull up for a jumpshot. The hoop put Wheaton up 76-72 with just 37 seconds to play.
A turnover forced the Ephs to look to foul immediately with hopes of getting the ball back on a missed foul shot but Nielson was up to the task. Nielson was fouled three times in the last 37 seconds of play and was able to hit all six of his free throws to keep the game out of reach for the Ephs.
The Ephs had built a 39-32 half time lead on the strength of junior Andrew Newton (16 points) inside but a second half defensive collapse let the game slip away.
After holding the Thunder to a 41.2% shooting percentage in the first half, including limiting Wheaton to just 1 for 7 from behind the arc, the Ephs surrendered 50 second half points on 55.2% shooting (7 for 12 from three point land). Struggling to shut down a Thunder offense that had quickly erased a 12 point second half deficit midway through the second half, the Ephs switched to a 2-3 zone defense with five minutes to play. The move proved costly for Williams as a run punctuated by a Nielson three-pointer gave Wheaton a 71-63 lead with four minutes remaining.
“We let it slip away,” said Paulsen. “We have to give credit to Wheaton. That’s a good team with a lot of seniors and veterans. They’re a well-coached team and the best team we’ve played against this year. They played with a lot more poise than we did.”
“The bottom line though is that we’ve had back to back awful defensive performances. A team cannot come into your gym and score 82 points... Offensively, you don’t want the turnovers and the lack of poise, but that’s going to happen in a physical game. That did not cost us this game. The fact that we had absolutely no semblance of a defensive presence in the second half is what cost us the game.”
Kain finished with a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds, earning All-Tournament Honors. Newton was also named to the All-Tournament Team for the Ephs. Raymond, who led the Thunder with 24 points, joined teammate Nielson in representing the Champions on the All-Tournament Team.
The loss halted the Ephs’ consecutive home win streak at 64 games, a NCAA Division III record.
Williams will look to get back on track when it takes on Amherst at home on Saturday at 4:00 pm.