WHEATON, Ill. - The Elmhurst men's basketball team was outscored 56-43 in the second half while falling 82-70 in a road loss at Wheaton College. 

Elmhurst slipped to 11-10 overall and 4-8 in the CCIW with the loss after dropping their fourth straight contest. Wheaton improved to 14-6 overall and 7-4 in the CCIW with the win. 

The Bluejays started strong in the opening half, jumping out to a 12-5 lead just six minutes into the contest. Wheaton surge back with a 16-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 21-18 lead lead with 6:15 left in the half. Elmhurst went back in front before the half as Ryan Patton and Jeremy Ireland hit back-to-back buckets to take a four-point lead (27-23) with 35 seconds remaiining. Wheaton's Aston Francis hit a three-pointer just before the half to cut Elmhurst's lead down to one point (27-26) at the half.

Elmhurst pushed its lead up to three points early in the second half before an 8-0 run from Wheaton gave the Thunder a five-point cushion at 34-29. Wheaton led by four at 41-37 and then used a 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Bluejays pulled to within seven midway through the half, but the Thunder answered back with a 14-2 run to pull away for a 19-point lead with six minutes remaining. Elmhurst came no closer than 10 points as the Thunder held on for the 12-point victory. 

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, but struggled from three-point range, hitting just 5-of-19 attempts (26.3 percent). After limiting Wheaton to just 32.3 percent (10-of-31) in the opening half, the Thunder shot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) in the second half to finish the contest shooting 42.2 percent (27-of-64) for the game. Wheaton turned 16 Elmhurst turnovers into 19 points. 

Four Bluejays reached double figures in scoring in the loss. Jake Rhode led the way with 14 points while Jeremy Ireland finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Patton added 12 points while Lance Gardner finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Derek Dotlich came off the bench to finish with eight points for the Bluejays. 

Ricky Samuelson led the Thunder in the win, scoring a game-high 21 points while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. Kobe Eichelberger added 15 points and nine rebounds while Jay Spencer finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Aston Francis added 10 points and Spencer Peterson came off the bench to score 11 for the Thunder. 

Elmhurst hosts Millikin University on Wednesday, February 7.