Men’s basketball team falls to No. 6 Wheaton, 91-82

OLIVET, Mich. – Playing its second straight nationally-ranked opponent, the Olivet College men's basketball team fell to Wheaton (Ill.) College, 91-82, this afternoon at the Cutler Event Center. The Thunder are ranked No. 6 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Final Score: Wheaton 91, Olivet 82
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Wheaton 10-1 overall, Olivet 2-4 overall

• The Thunder led by five points on four occasions in the first five minutes and 22 seconds of the game. After the last time at 15-10, the Comets used a 5-0 run to level the score. Wheaton answered with a 6-2 run to go up 21-17 at the 11:54 mark.
• Olivet countered with a 5-0 run over the next 46 seconds to take its first lead of the game, 22-21. Undaunted the Thunder went on a 10-2 scoring spurt to gain their largest advantage of the game, 31-24, with 7:15 left until halftime.
• The Comets battled with a 13-1 run over the next four and half minutes for their largest lead, 37-32. Wheaton came back with six straight points to regain the lead, 38-37. Olivet put the final five points on the scoreboard in the first half for a 42-38 lead at the intermission.
• With the Comets clinging to a 46-43 lead early in the second half, the Thunder used a combination of three-pointers and three-point plays to score 18 unanswered points and go up 15 points, 61-46. Wheaton extended its lead to 19 points twice, with the last time being 78-59 with 8:09 left in the game. Olivet fought back to cut its deficit down to nine points, 84-75, with three minutes remaining in the game. The Thunder pushed their lead back to 15 points, 90-75, before the Comets ended the game on a 7-1 run to create the final nine-point margin.
• Olivet made four baskets than the Thunder, 33 to 29. The difference in the game was Wheaton canned five more baskets from distance (10 to 5) and 12 more three throws (23 to 11).

• Olivet shot 50 percent from the floor but were only 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from behind the arc.
• Four players reached double figures in the scoring column.
• Senior Tevin Ali scored a team-best 15 points.
• Freshman Lorris Upshaw was next with 12 points.
• Seniors Ryan Robinette and Eddie Thigpen each had 10 points.
• Freshman Patrick Hollis nearly tallied a double-double with nine points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds.

• "That was a pretty high level game today," said Olivet head men's basketball coach Sam Hargraves. "A lot of credit goes to Wheaton as I thought the way they started the second half was incredible. We didn't have a lot of silly mistakes, but we did have some at bad times. We certainly hope playing these very challenging non-league games will get us ready for what is going to be a very challenging MIAA season."

• Wheaton posted a 44.6 field goal percentage, including 31.3 percent from three-point land.
• Nyameye Adom led all scorers with 30 points, with six triples.
• Tyson Cruickshank tallied 21 points to go along with dishing out a team-best six assists.
• Eli Considine had 18 points.
• Cade Alioth recorded a double-double, 13 points and game-best 12 rebounds.

• The Comets continue their homestand next Tuesday, December 21, when they host Hanover (Ind.) College. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.