Noah Livingston
Aubrey Staton
65
Winner Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 12-2,4-1 CCIW
61
Millikin MIL-U 8-7,1-5 CCIW
Winner
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL
12-2,4-1 CCIW
65
Final
61
Millikin MIL-U
8-7,1-5 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 31 34 65
Millikin MIL-U 37 24 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Big Blue Men’s Upset Bid Falls Short

The Millikin men's upset bid against #12 Wheaton College fell short with the Big Blue falling 65-61 on January 7 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Illinois.
 
Millikin played a strong first half and took a 37-31 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Big Blue shot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field in the first half and outscored the Thunder by 10 in the paint 24-14.
 
A Nate Straughter basket with 12:27 left in the gave Millikin its biggest lead of the game at 46-33. The Thunder then began its comeback effort hitting three three-pointers in-a-row to make it a 46-42 game with 10:41 left to play. Millikin answered with two Noah Livingston free throws and a basket by Jackson Neidenbach to push the advantage back to eight at 50-42 with 8:34 remaining. Wheaton then went on an 8-0 run with Tyson Cruickshank connecting on two three-pointers in the run to tie the game at 50-50 with 5:32 left to play. JT Welch answered for Millikin to put the Big Blue up 52-50. After a Nick Schiavello free throw, a Cruickshank layup gave the Thunder the lead for the final time at 53-52 with 3:49 to go. Wheaton lead 56-52 with 1:42 remaining before Livingston's three-pointer made it 58-55. After a Demarcus Bond steal, Drake Stevenson's basket pulled Millikin to 58-57 with one minute left in the game. Cruickshank made it 60-57 Thunder, but Millikin answered with a Bond bucket to make it a one point game at 60-59 with 19 seconds to play. The Thunder went 6-6 from the free throw line in the final seconds to seal the victory.
 
Cole Laurence and Welch led Millikin in scoring with 10 points each. Stevenson had nine points and a team high eight rebounds.
 
Cruickshank led the Thunder with 24 points followed by TJ Askew with 15.
 
Millikin shot 47 percent (26-55) from the field and made 3-10 from three-point range. Wheaton shot 49 percent (23-47) from the field making 10-22 from three-point range. The Thunder were 5-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.
 
Millikin falls to 8-7, 1-5 while Wheaton improves to 12-2, 4-1.
 
 
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