WHITEWATER, Wis. -- Kent Raymond's off-balance jumper forced overtime, and the Wheaton College men's basketball team was virtually flawless from the foul line in the extra period as the Thunder beat Lawrence University 93-83 in a first round NCAA Division III Tournament game Friday at Kachel Gymnasium.
Ryan Kroeger poured in 21 points to pace Lawrence, which finishes with a 22-3 record in head coach Joel DePagter's inaugural season. Andy Hurley added 16 points, five assists, and four rebounds for the Vikings. Chris Page chipped in with 15 points, and Ben Rosenblatt had 11. Andy Wiele paced Wheaton (20-7) with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Preseason All-American Kent Raymond added 23 points but hit only 4 of 16 shots from the floor.
Wheaton took its first lead since it led 2-0 at 57-56 with 7:43 left in the second half. The Thunder led by as many as six points at 62-56 before the Vikings rallied.
After a free throw by John Dekker, Rosenblatt nailed a 3-pointer and Doug Kadison followed with a layup to tie the game at 62-62 with 3:34 remaining in the second half.
The teams traded free throws and 3-pointers before Hurley's layup with 1:28 left put the Vikings up 69-67. Wiele countered for Wheaton to tie the game before Hurley was fouled. He hit 1 of 2 free throws to put Lawrence up 70-69 with 45 seconds left.
Wiele then missed a layup for Wheaton, and Hurley was fouled again. He again converted 1 of 2 to put the Vikings up 71-69 with 19 seconds left.
Raymond then hit a jumper with two Vikings in his face to tie the game at 71-71 with 3.7 seconds left. Hurley missed a 15-foot runner as time expired.
Wheaton led 75-72 early in the overtime when Raymond hit a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 78-72 edge. Lawrence countered with a three-point play from Page, but Ben Panner's layup with 2:12 left put the Thunder up 80-75.
It became a free-throw shooting contest after that, and Wheaton hit 14 of 15 from the line in the final 1:12 to seal the victory. Wheaton finished 27 of 31 from the line for the game. Lawrence hit only 17 of 26 from the charity stripe.
This is Lawrence's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five seasons. The Vikings now have a 5-5 record in NCAA Tournament play.