FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team showed improvement in a 59-79 loss to crosstown rivals, No. 15 St. Francis in the 100th meeting in the series in front of a packed crowd at the Schaefer Center on Tuesday night. The Warriors (0-2) still hold a commanding lead, 63-37, in the overall series.

For the second consecutive contest, the Orange and Black got off to a fast start, putting together a solid first half. Lavonte Davis got the scoring started with a free throw and his first field goal of the contest cut the Cougars (3-0) lead to one, 4-3. After a couple defensive stops, Milo Milidragovic drew a foul on a three-point attempt, sinking all three free throws to taka 6-4 lead.

A USF three gave the visitors a momentary lead, but Tanner Watkins answered with a three of his own giving Tech a 9-7 margin. After the Cougars took back the lead, the two teams traded baskets and a Davis jumper knotted the score at 16 with 9:23 to play in the half. The visitors then used a 10-2 run to take an eight-point, 26-18, lead.

The Warriors then scored eight of the next 12 points to cut the lead to four, 30-26, at the 4:26 mark in the first half. Unfortunately, USF scored 10 of the final 14 points to take a 40-30 halftime lead. The Warriors shot 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from the field including a 30 percent (3-for-10) mark from behind the three-point arc. Tech was also 7-for-10 (70%) from the charity stripe while the Cougars shot 43.3 percent (13-for-30) from the floor, 25 percent (2-for-8) from behind the arc and 12-for-17 (70.6%) from the line.

After the Cougars added a few early baskets, the Warriors were able to cut the Cougars lead to 10, 48-38, but couldn't get any closer, in the final period, falling to the 15th ranked Cougars. Tech finished the contest 19-for-57 (33.3%) from the field and 6-for-22 (27.3%) from long range while going 75 percent (15-for-20) from the free throw line. The Cougars finished 51 percent (27-for-52) from the floor, 2-for-9 (22.2%) from the three-point arc and 23-for-33 (69.7%) from the charity stripe.

The Cougars won on the glass, outrebounding the Warriors 40-31in the contest, while also winning in the paint, outscoring Tech 44-20. The Warriors bench played well, outscoring USF 32-18 in the contest, including a 22-4 mark in the second half.

Franklin Lindsey finished with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds with Chester McFadden and Milos Milidragovic each netting 12 points. Davis grabbed eight boards to tie for the team lead while also adding seven points.

The Warriors return to action on Saturday, Nov. 8 when they travel to Mount Vernon, Ohio to face Mount Vernon Nazarene at 5:30 p.m.