Box Score
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana put four players in double figures Saturday, but it wasn't enough, as the 14th-ranked Vikings dropped their third straight game, 76-70 to Wheaton at Carver Center. Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) and Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) led Augustana with 14 points each, while Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) and Kevin Schlitter (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) added 11 apiece.

Hill scored the Vikings' first two baskets of the game and his driving layup at the 17:26 mark of the first half gave the hosts their only lead of the night at 4-3. After ties at six and eight-all, a Brayden Teuscher jumper at 14:32 gave the Thunder the lead for good at 10-8. That started an 9-0 Wheaton run that extended the advantage to 17-8, but four straight point by Ryan and a Pils three-pointer had Augustana within four (19-15) at the 10 minute mark.
 
A Caleb DeMoss trey with 6:33 left in the half gave the Thunder their biggest lead of the period at 29-18 and they eventually took a 35-25 advantage to the locker room.
 
After being held scoreless in the first half, Tyler Peters pushed the margin to 27-25 with a layup on the opening possession of the second stanza. It would be the first of 18 second-half points for the Wheaton star. The Vikings scored seven straight to whittle the deficit to 42-38 on a Hill basket with 14:42 left. However the Thunder responded with a 17-8 run to take a 13-point lead with 8:18 remaining.
 
After a Peters steal and dunk put Wheaton up 65-51 at the 4:40 mark, Augustana began slowly chipping away at the deficit. It was still 11 (70-59) with 2:23 on the clock, but a bucket by Ryan, a trey from Pils and two Hill free throws narrowed it to 70-66 with 1:10 left. A Schlitter field goal at the 53-second mark made it 72-68, but that's as close as the Vikings would get as Nate Haynes hit two free throws and Peters and Tad Fisher one each in the final 40 seconds to preserve the Wheaton victory.
 
In addition to his 14 points, Ryan added a team-high dozen rebounds. Schlitter and Hill each had five caroms as Augustana won the battle of the boards 37-33. The Vikings also committed just nine turnovers in the game.
 
Haynes – who grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds – and Peters shared game-high scoring honors with 18 each. Teuscher added 16 and DeMoss 14. Wheaton improved to 14-6 on the year and 7-2 in the CCIW.
 
Now 15-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference, Augustana travels to Bloomington, Illinois on Wednesday, February 5 to face sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.