WHEATON, Ill. -- It is not every year that two of the more recognizable Christian liberal arts colleges in America get together and play each other in a sport. Wheaton College and Covenant College are eerily similar in several regards, and the connections between these two schools runs deep. For instance, Covenant President Dr. Niel B. Nielson and Chaplain Aaron Messner are graduates of Wheaton as are Biblical Studies professors Dr. Herb Ward and Dr. Kelly Kapic, just to name a few of the many. Additionally, junior forward Paul Werkema calls Wheaton, Illinois his hometown.
Even with all these connections, Covenant has not played Wheaton in any sport for as long as anyone can remember, but this weekend the Scots made the 625 mile trek to the Midwest to play in the Lee Pfund Classic hosted by Wheaton College.
Wheaton was not so hospitable to their guests, though, as the Thunder handled Covenant easily 77-40 to move on to the championship game of Saturday night at King Arena.
The Scots played well for the first ten minutes of the first half as they went on a 10-0 scoring run capped off by a Kacey Chambers three pointer that put the Scots up 10-5. Sam Bowman drained a jumper with 9:55 remaining in the first half that gave Covenant a 16-14 lead, but from that point on, it was all Wheaton. The Thunder proceeded to out-score the Scots 21-5 from that point on until the halftime buzzer sounded.
Wheaton cranked up the intensity even more to begin the second half as the Thunder did not allow a Covenant field goal until Joey Danek's short jumper with 13:50 remaining in the game. During that six minute span, Wheaton got nine points from Spencer Schultzie to help build a 51-26 advantage. The Thunder would cruise the rest of the game, never allowing the Scots to get any type of momentum going.
Covenant had trouble all night with the Wheaton pressure defense as the Scots turned the ball over 27 times and shot just 35.7% (15-42) from the field. The Scots had zero players in double figures in scoring. However, Sam Bowman and Damien Chaney each scored 9. The Scots also failed to control the boards as they were out-rebounded 40-21 by the Thunder.
If there was a silver lining in this game for Covenant, it was the fact that they held the 2009-10 NCAA Division III Second Team All-American Tim McCrary to only 10 points and 8 rebounds while forcing 6 turnovers from him alone. Other players stepped up for the Thunder, though, as Spencer Schultzie led all players in scoring with 15 points, and Jeremy Pflederer poured in 14 on the strength of 4 three pointers.
Wheaton (1-1) shot 49% (28-57) for the game and nailed 7 of 22 three point attempts. Covenant also forced Wheaton into 19 turnovers in the game.
Covenant (0-2) must rebound quickly from this loss as they will take on Defiance College in the consolation game of the Lee Pfund Classic Saturday evening at 6:30pm. Defiance lost a thrilling game to Wisconsin-Whitewater 95-91 in the first round of the tournament. The Scots will return to Barnes Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 23 at 8:00pm against the Berry College Vikings.
