FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Tanner Watkins set a career-high for a second straight game, but it wasn't enough to help the Indiana Tech men's basketball team defeat NAIA Division I, Shawnee State, on Sunday in an 86-74 loss in the Schaefer Center.

It was a tightly contested first half that saw six ties and five lead changes. Franklin Lindsey opened the scoring with a three-pointer, one of 19 the Warriors (5-10) hit in the contest, but the Bears (6-8) answered back with a three of their own to tie the score and another basket gave them an early lead. Watkins hit the first of his nine treys at the 15:24 mark to tie the score at 10. Shawnee State pushed the lead back to four, but Jared Bloom and Lindsey hit back-to-back three's to take a two-point lead.

The Orange and Black stretched the lead to a game-high four points twice on a Lindsey layup and a Watkins three-pointer with 5:48 left in the half. After surrendering the lead, Watkins hit another three to put Tech up 34-32, but the Bears scored the final four points of the half to take the two-point lead into the break.

The Bears continued their scoring run in the second half, pushing the lead to eight with an 11-5 run. Tech kept the lead to single digits and used a 12-5 run of their own to cut the deficit to two on another Watkins three with 4:55 to play. SSU scored the next eight points with a Watkins jumper cutting the lead back to six, but the Bears hit their free throws down the stretch to close the door on the Warriors.

Tech struggled inside the arc, finishing 26-for-68 (36.8%) from the floor, 19-for-41 (46.3%) from long range and just 5-of-10 (50%) from the charity stripe while the Bears shot 56.3 percent (27-for-48) from the field and were 24-for-28 (85.7%) from the line.

Watkins had a team-high 30 points while Lindsay recorded his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Bloom finished with 14 points for Tech and Josh Fleming had a team-high five assists.

The Warriors return to action for their final game of 2014 on Tuesday, Dec. 30 when they travel to Richmond, Ind. to face No. 18 Indiana University East. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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