Wheaton's win brings some pain
Time will tell whether Wednesday's win was more bitter or more sweet for Wheaton College.
The top-ranked Division III men's basketball team in the nation took care of business Wednesday at King Arena with a 79-71 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win over visiting Augustana, ranked 11th nationally.
Staying unbeaten on a night when All-American Kent Raymond notched his 2,000th collegiate point did have one major drawback, however. Raymond went down with an ankle injury after scoring his 26th point of the night and, after emerging from the locker room on crutches, had to watch the final few minutes from the bench.
"The kid's a tremendous player," said Thunder coach Bill Harris. "He just had an unbelievable second half until he got hurt. Hopefully the medical staff can get him back soon."
After the game Raymond left to have the ankle X-rayed, but the standout senior guard seemed confident it was a sprain.
"It hurts pretty badly and it's pretty swollen," said Raymond, who earned point No. 2,000 on a second-half 3-pointer. "But we'll let the doctors take a look and hopefully get it better."
Raymond became the 13th player in CCIW history and the third Wheaton College player to score 2,000 points. His 19 second-half points helped the Thunder (14-0, 3-0) break free from a halftime tie and build a 12-point lead.
When Raymond went down, though, the loss reverberated throughout the arena. The Thunder initially struggled while allowing the Vikings (11-4, 2-2) to creep within 65-59 with 4:38 left.
Sparked by the return of 6-foot-8 Andy Wiele, who's been out five weeks with a foot injury, Wheaton College regained its composure. Wiele scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and grabbed 9 rebounds in his first game back.
"Once I was confident enough to go 100 percent on it, it felt good," Wiele said. "We'll keep increasing the minutes and hopefully get it back to full strength."
Ten lead changes finally stabilized when the Thunder started the second half on a 13-2 run. Raymond scored 11 of the points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Ben Panner also had 14 points for the Thunder. Bryant Voiles scored 14 points for Augustana while Matt Pelton added 12 points.
"We're really just picking up where we left off last year," said sophomore Thunder guard and Wheaton North graduate Andrew Jahns. "We've got a great group of guys and we've got a tremendous group of freshmen."