ELMHURST, Ill. – Kyle Wuest scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to a thrilling 98-93 overtime win over the University of Dubuque.
 
Elmhurst improved to 7-1 on the season with the victory while handing Dubuque (8-1) its first loss of the season in the process.
 
The back-and-forth affair featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes as the two teams slugged it out for the majority of the contest.
 

Dubuque shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) in the opening half, but the Spartans were unable to build more than a five-point cushion. Trailing 21-17 with less than 7:30 to play in the half, Wuest drained a three-pointer and followed with a jumper to put Elmhurst in front 24-23. The Bluejays built a five-point cushion (31-26) on a pair of Erik Crittenden free throws, but a free throw and back-to-back fast break dunks from Andre Norris pulled the Spartans even with 1:50 left. Dubuque opened up a four-point cushion with a minute to play, but Will Nixon's jumper in the paint pulled Elmhurst to within two points at the half (35-33).
 
Elmhurst surged in front early in the second half using a 13-3 run keyed by six points from Crittenden and a Pat Coleman three-pointer. Dubuque answered right back as the Spartans ripped off a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead (56-50) with 12 minutes left. The Spartans' lead quickly vanished as Peyton Wyatt knocked down a pair of trey's and Wuest buried another three-pointer to put Elmhurst up by one (60-59) with 10:30 left on the clock.
 
The two squads traded leads three times over the next seven minutes until Dubuque used a 9-2 run to take a 75-50 lead with 3:36 left. Wuest keyed Elmhurst's response with a jumper and a three-pointer to pull the Bluejays even at 75-all with 1:41 left. Dubuque went up 79-77 on an Lucas Ware jumper with less than 30 seconds to play, but Wuest was fouled and hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to send the game to overtime.
 
Dubuque grabbed a quick lead in the extra period on a Jacob Mohlis three-pointer, but a jumper from Crittenden followed by a steal and a three-point play from Coleman put Elmhurst back in front. Norris hit a pair of free throws to even the score at 84-84, but Wuest knocked down his sixth three-pointer of the contest to put Elmhurst up for good. The Bluejays extended their lead to five points with less than 35 seconds to play, but Norris drilled a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to keep the Spartans' hopes alive. After a free throw from Wuest, Dubuque's Gage Heffernon missed a three-point attempt with five seconds to play. Bryant Ackerman grabbed the rebound and was fouled, hitting both free throws to preserve the 98-93 win for Elmhurst.
 
The Bluejays finished the game shooting 44.8 percent (30-of-67) from the floor, including 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from downtown. The Bluejays were solid from the free throw line, hitting 26-of-33 attempts (78.8 percent).

Wuest poured in a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers. He finished the game shooting 10-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-9 from three-point range. He added five rebounds in the victory. Three other Bluejays reached double figures in scoring with Coleman adding 18 points while hitting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Crittenden finished with 17 points and six rebounds while Nixon finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Brandon Schwebke came off the bench to score seven for the Bluejays while Wyatt added six..
 
Dubuque outshot the Bluejays in the contest, hitting 56.4 percent (31-of-55) of its shots. The Spartans shot 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from long distance, but struggled from the foul line, hitting just 21-of-34 attempts (61.8 percent).
 
Norris led five players in double figures for Dubuque by scoring a team-best 24 points. Mohlis added 18 points while Lucas Ware chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds. Brandon Ferguson scored 13 and Gage Heffernan added 10 for the Spartans.
 
Elmhurst travels to Adrian College on Wednesday, December 17.