Wheaton held a 32-23 lead at halftime of tonight’s contest. Wheaton’s biggest lead of the second half was a 10-point advantage when the Thunder led 37-27 with 15:30 left in the game. Once Wheaton had built up the 10-point lead the Vikings began to chip away at the hosts’ lead, out-scoring the guests 19-7 to take a 46-44 lead with 7:25 left in the game. Wheaton used a three-pointer by freshman Kent Raymond and another trey by junior Tony Bollier to take a 60-53 lead with 2:15 left in the game. Once Wheaton took the seven-point lead Augustana rallied again with a pair of baskets by Jay McAdams-Thornton and another by Travis Hoyt to cut Wheaton’s lead to 60-59 with 37-seconds left in the game.
With about two-seconds more on the shot clock than was on the game clock, Wheaton held onto the ball, which forced the Vikings to foul center Jim Fortosis with 17-seconds left in regulation. Fortosis missed his first free throw attempt, but made the second to give Wheaton a 61-59 lead. Hoyt missed a jumper for Augustana with five seconds left that would have tied the game and Wheaton’s Jonathan Steven came up with the big rebound. Steven was fouled and made his first free throw attempt, but missed the second. McAdams-Thornton grabbed the rebound of Steven’s miss with four-seconds left and quickly brought the ball down the court and released a three-point attempt from the top of the arc that missed as time expired to give Wheaton the dramatic victory.
Raymond led the Thunder with 20 points and two assists. Senior guard Jon Nielson added 15 points, with three field goals from behind the three-point arc, three assists and two steals. Senior forward Martin Trimiew scored 11 points, with 12 rebounds, including six offensive caroms, four assists and two steals. Fortosis grabbed nine rebounds, with seven points. Steven grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Thunder.
McAdams-Thornton led the Vikings with 14 points, a team-high seven rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal. Rick Harrigan scored 12 points and Hoyt added 10 points, with four blocked shots and two steals.
Wheaton shot 44.4% (12-27) from the field, in the first half, but dipped to a 28.6% (8-28) field goal percentage in the second half, for a 36.4% (20-55) field goal percentage in the game. The Thunder hit 33.3% (6-18) of its three-point attempts, with 66.7% (16-24) from the free throw line. Augustana shot 42.4% (25-59) from the field, with 10% (1-10) from three-point range and a 47.1% (47.1) effort from the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the Vikings 39-35, with a 10-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Augustana vs Wheaton College 1/29/05 7:30 PM at King Arena - Wheaton, Ill. At King Arena - Wheaton, Ill. WHEATON COLLEGE 62, AUGUSTANA 59 AUGUSTANA (12-6/4-3 CCIW) Jay McAdams-Thornton 5-13 4-8 14; Rick Harrigan 5-16 1-2 12; Travis Hoyt 5-7 0-1 10; Matt Salisbury 2-3 2-4 6; Drew Wessels 3-6 0-0 6; Shaun Rose 2-4 1-2 5; Joe Caricato 2-6 0-0 4; Joe Baumann 1-3 0-0 2; Jordan Delp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 8-17 59. WHEATON COLLEGE (13-3/3-2 CCIW) Raymond, Kent 6-14 7-9 20; Nielson, Jon 5-11 2-3 15; Trimiew, Martin 4-8 3-4 11; Fortosis, Jim 2-6 3-4 7; Steven, Jonathan 1-7 1-2 4; Bollier, Tony 1-4 0-0 3; Lettinga, Andrew 1-5 0-2 2. Totals 20-55 16-24 62. Augustana..................... 23 36 - 59 Wheaton College............... 32 30 - 62 3-point goals-Augustana 1-10 (Rick Harrigan 1-4; Drew Wessels 0-1; Joe Baumann 0-2; Jay McAdams-Thornton 0-3), Wheaton College 6-18 (Nielson, Jon 3-4; Raymond, Kent 1-6; Bollier, Tony 1-4; Steven, Jonathan 1-3; Lettinga, Andrew 0-1). Fouled out--Augustana-None, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-Augustana 35 (Jay McAdams-Thornton 7), Wheaton College 39 (Trimiew, Martin 12). Assists-Augustana 5 (Jay McAdams-Thornton 2), Wheaton College 12 (Trimiew, Martin 4). Total fouls-Augustana 20, Wheaton College 16.