ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team outscored Wheaton 45-29 in the second half, overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit, en route to a 70-62 victory over the Thunder.

Elmhurst, ranked ninth in the latest D3hoops.com poll, struggled in the opening half and trailed by eight at the break, but quickly erased the deficit in the second half before pulling away for the victory. Elmhurst improved to 18-3 overall and 8-2 in the CCIW with the victory while Wheaton slipped to 5-17 overall and 1-10 in league play.

Elmhurst jumped out quickly in the opening half, racing out to a 16-8 lead just seven minutes into the contest. The Bluejays knocked down four three-pointers in the run with Bryant Ackerman and Kyle Wuest each knocking down a pair.

Wheaton stormed back with a 14-0 over the next five minutes, grabbing a 20-16 lead in the process. The Thunder continued to lengthen their lead, building a nine-point cushion with four minutes remaining in the half after Riley Tuescher knocked down a jumper. Elmhurst closed to within six points with just over a minute remaining, but Jonathan Bernsten's floater in the paint just before the buzzer gave Wheaton a 33-25 lead at the half.

Elmhurst struggled to find good lucks against the Thunder's zone defense. After Elmhurst built it's early 16-8 lead, the Bluejays committed five turnovers and shot just 3-of-17 for the remainder of the half. The Bluejays shot just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) in the half and committed nine turnovers, results in 13 points for Wheaton. The Thunder also outscored Elmhurst 16-6 in the paint and the Bluejays had just a 17-16 edge in rebounding in the game's first 20 minutes.

The Bluejays wasted no time erasing the deficit in the second half. The Bluejays opened the second half by scoring nine consecutive points in just over two minutes to surge back in front after a Pat Coleman layup. The two squads traded buckets and leads for the next two minutes, until a three-pointer from Wuest put the Bluejays in front for good with 15:30 remaining. Leading by two (43-41) with 14 minutes left to play, the Bluejays scored the next eight points fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Brandon Schwebke. The Bluejays pushed their lead up to 11 points with seven minutes remaining, but an 11-4 run by the Thunder brought Wheaton to within four points with just over three minutes remaining.

Back-to-back buckets from Wuest and Ackerman put Elmhurst back in front by eight with 2:20 left. Michael Berg split a pair of free throws for the Thunder with 1:53 left, but a three-point play from Crittenden with 1:35 left helped put the game away for Elmhurst.

After shooting just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) in the opening half, Elmhurst shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) over the final 20 minutes to finish the contest at 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field. Elmhurst controlled the paint in the second half, outscoring the Thunder 20-12 over the final 20 minutes of play.

Crittenden paced Elmhurst in the win, totaling a game-high 22 points and a team-best 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. The 22-point performance marked Crittenden's second-consecutive game of breaking the 20-point barrier.  Wuest added 16 points while shooting 5-of-8 from the floor while Ackerman finished with 15 points and five rebounds for the Bluejays. Coleman totaled a team-leading five assists to go with four points for Elmhurst.
 
Wheaton finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the floor, but only 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from downtown. Berg paced the Thunder in the loss with a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. Jonathan Bernsten added 17 points and five assists while Ricky Samuelson totaled 14 points for the Thunder.

Elmhurst travels to North Park University on Wednesday, February 10.