The pre-holiday road trip
Wheaton College’s men’s basketball team can count on being home for Christmas.
Until then, the Thunder will be a long way from Illinois.
Wheaton traveled to San Antonio on Monday for the Trinity University National Invitational, a three-day, classic-style event featuring 13 Division III teams from the NCAA’s Midwest, Northwest, and South regions. The tournament actually started Tuesday, but the Thunder will kick off its slate against Whitman at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Wheaton also will play Pacific Lutheran on Thursday before returning home Friday.
“We’re just getting together to have a tournament where we can play teams that we normally would not play,” Wheaton coach Mike Schauer said Monday.
The Thunder made time for sightseeing early in the week, exploring San Antonio’s famed River Walk on Monday and visiting the Alamo Tuesday. The rest of the trip will be all business — especially for Schauer, who didn’t exactly sound like the coach of a team off to a 7-2 start.
Part of that could be the lingering effect of Wheaton’s last game, a 77-68 loss to Washington (Mo.) on Dec. 10 that helped knock the Thunder out of the D3Hoops.com Top 25 rankings.
“If I’m really honest, I think we’re playing a little bit below our ability right now,” Schauer said. “I think one of the most frustrating things in coaching is any time you feel like the whole of your team is less than the sum of your parts.”
Wheaton has a chance to bounce back against Whitman.
At 7-2 the Missionaries represent a good test. Senior forward David Michaels leads the team in points per game at 15.6, and guards Brandon Shaw and Jordan Dickson also average double figures. Whitman played Washington (Mo.) on Nov. 18 and lost by 3 points in overtime.
“They’re very unique,” Schauer said. “They press, they change defenses, they try to push the ball.
“It’s not a traditional Midwest team that pounds it into the post.”
Wheaton won five games in a row to start its season, but has lost two of four despite the emergence of senior guard Aaron Garriott — who missed the past two seasons because of knee injuries and still can’t practice every day — as a reliable second scorer next to star senior forward Tim McCrary at 17 points a game.
Schauer blamed that on the Thunder’s tendency to wilt a little in pressure situations, something he said he hopes to fix this week.
“We have not shown a willingness yet to really fight in difficult situations,” Schauer said. “We’ve kind of wanted the games to be easy, and when they haven’t been, we back down a little bit.”
Wheaton is just one of four local basketball teams playing in out-of-state tournaments this week.
North Central’s men’s basketball team traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the Daytona Beach Shootout, wrapping up a 1-1 trip with a dominant 67-52 win over Bridgewater (Va.) on Tuesday. The Cardinals enjoyed a healthy 40-25 rebounding edge, grabbing a 25-13 advantage late in the first half that they never relinquished.
Sophomore forward Landon Gamble finished with a game-high 22 points and 9 rebounds. North Central (5-5) opened the tournament with a 64-62 loss to Scranton on Monday.
Benedictine’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are in Las Vegas for a pair of games at the Las Vegas Hoopla tournament.
Both teams played Tuesday, with the men (3-7) falling 84-70 to Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the women (2-8) dropping a 65-63 decision to Muskingum. The men play Mount St. Joseph at 8 p.m. Wednesday, and the women will take on Lycoming at noon.
Elmhurst: Led by undefeated days from juniors Joe Rau and Dalton Bullard and sophomore Danny Balderas (Downers Grove North), the Elmhurst wrestling team ran its record in dual matches to a perfect 9-0 Sunday.Wrestling in New Orleans at the Gator Duals, the Bluejays dispatched Delaware Valley (26-21), Luther (28-15), and Elmhurst (34-13). The victory over Luther was perhaps the most impressive #8212; the Norse are ranked No. 11 in the NCAA Division III Coaches Top 25 poll, one spot behind Elmhurst.#147;I knew this was going to be a huge test for the guys,#148; Elmhurst coach Steve Marianetti said. #147;We had three very tough duals, and the guys actually wrestled extremely well.#148;Elmhurst won seven of its 10 matches against Luther, including a 9-0 major victory by Bullard at 133 pounds, a victory by Balderas at 174 pounds and a 38-second pin by Rau at 184 pounds. Rau pinned all three of his opponents Sunday, improving his record to 12-0 this season.Rau #147;has really become a team leader. He#146;s made himself one of the more dominant wrestlers in the country,#148; Marianetti said. #147;He#146;s really distanced himself from the competition.#148;Elmhurst will not wrestle again until the National Duals in Springfield, Ill., Jan. 7.