Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. – For the second year in a row, a Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) steal in the final seconds proved pivotal in an Augustana win at Wheaton, as the Vikings held on to defeat the Thunder 86-84 at King Arena Wednesday. Coach Grey Giovanine's fifth-ranked outfit improved to 15-3 on the year and 7-2 in the CCIW, while the hosts dropped to 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the league.
 
With 1:35 to play, Aston Francis hit his eighth three-pointer of the night to complete a 7-0 Wheaton run and give the Thunder an 82-80 lead. Nolan Ebel's (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) steal and layup at the 1:04 mark tied it before Francis split a pair of free throws to put the hosts back on top 83-82 with 44 seconds left.
 
After a Wheaton timeout, Ebel drove the lane for another layup at 0:29 to regain the lead for Augustana. The Thunder used another timeout with 12.2 seconds remaining when the Vikings trapped Francis along the sideline.
 
Coming out of the break, Orange picked off Luke Peters' inbounds pass along the sideline and went in for a layup that put the Vikings up 86-83 with 8.2 seconds on the clock. Orange was also fouled by Francis on the play, but his free throw to clinch it was short. Peters grabbed the rebound and fired an outlet to Francis. As Wheaton star neared midcourt, Ebel fouled him with 2.5 seconds left.
 
Francis converted the first free throw to make it 86-84 and after an Augustana 30-second timeout, attempted to miss the second. However, his shot didn't draw iron, resulting in a turnover. Orange's inbound pass found Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) behind the defense and the Viking junior ran out the final seconds.
 
With the exception of three ties, Augustana led for the first 13 minutes of the game. A Francis three-pointer 6:34 before halftime gave Wheaton its first lead of the night at 26-24. Ricky Samuelson's three-pointer with nine seconds left in the half gave the Thunder their biggest margin at 46-40, but junior Joe Kellen (Rockford Lutheran HS, Rockford, Ill.) beat the buzzer with a trey to pull the visitors to within 46-43 at the break.
 
Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) and Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) scored the first two baskets of the second half to put the Vikings up 47-46, but Kobe Eichelberger answered with a three-pointer and Wheaton would hold the lead for nearly eight minutes. Sortillo hit back-to-back threes, the second with 10:20 left, to put Augustana ahead 67-65 and the Thunder wouldn't lead again until Francis' trey at the 1:35 mark.
 
Martin led a balanced Viking attack with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Ebel added 17 and Sortillo 16. Benning tallied 11, along with a game-high 11 rebounds and a team-high six assists. Francis scored a game-high 37 on 11-of-18 field goals, including 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. Eichelberger and Samuelson chipped in with 14 apiece.
 
Giovanine's bunch finished the night 34 of 69 (.493) from the field, nine of 19 (.474) from long range and nine of 13 (.692) from the foul line. Wheaton shot .482 (27-56) from the floor, .444 (12-27) from deep and .750 (18-24) from the free throw line. Augustana won the battle of the boards 39-29 and committed 15 turnovers to 13 for the hosts.
 
Now in sole possession of second place in the CCIW, the Vikings host Carthage at Carver Center on Saturday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m.