Wheaton reaches Sweet Sixteen
The Wheaton College men's basketball team defeated Loras College 76-73 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament at Whitewater, Wis.
The historic victory means that Wheaton (21-7) will advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the Division III Tournament for the first time in the 17-year tenure of coach Bill Harris. This is also the furthest Wheaton has advanced in a national tournament since 1959 when the school competed in the NCAA Small College Division.
Wheaton will face either Occidental or Whitworth in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday at a site and time yet to be determined.
Wheaton trailed the Duhawks 40-37 at halftime and Loras (22-7) held a 66-57 lead with six minutes left in regulation. Wheaton All-America Kent Raymond made a basket with 5:45 left in the game to ignite a 16-0 scoring run for the Thunder that gave Wheaton a 73-66 lead with 1:50 left in regulation.
Raymond and freshman Andrew Jahns (Wheaton North) combined to score 11 of Wheaton's 16 unanswered points. Jahns drained two consecutive 3-pointers to extend Wheaton's lead to 73-66.
Loras' Kyle White scored a layup with 12 seconds left to cut Wheaton's lead to 75-73. Wheaton's Jeremy Berntsen sank 1 of 2 free-throw attempts with nine seconds left to give Wheaton a 76-73 lead. A Loras 3-point attempt in the closing seconds glanced off the rim and the Duhawks grabbed an offensive rebound but could not get another shot off.
Raymond led the Thunder with 36 points, including six 3-pointers and 4 assists. Ben Panner scored 13 points, with 5 assists and Andy Wiele scored 12 points, with 15 rebounds and 5 assists. Jahns scored 12 points, thanks to four 3-pointers. Wheaton shot 52.9 percent from the field, with 52.2 percent from 3-point range and 61.5 percent at the free-throw line.
"We just kept battling tonight," Harris said. "These kids know how to compete and have been battle-tested because of the toughness of the CCIW. Even though we were down 9 late in the second half they continued to battle back and made a great run.
"Jahns hit some big baskets, and Kent played well tonight."