FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Strong play down the stretch from 7-foot center Laurence Mifsud, helped the Indiana Tech men's basketball team seal a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory over Madonna, 72-65, on Kline Court at the Schaefer Center on Saturday night.

The Crusaders (6-10, 2-6 WHAC) got the scoring started with a layup, but Franklin Lindsey gave the Warriors (7-10, 4-4 WHAC) their first lead of the contest with a three-pointer and other than a tie at 5-5, the Orange and Black didn't trail the rest of the half. Madonna cut the advantage to one, 10-9, but Tech scored 10 of the next 14 points to take a 20-13 lead at the 8:37 mark. The Orange and Black maintained their lead over the next four minutes, but the Crusaders scored 10 of the final 15 points to cut the Tech lead to two, 34-32 heading to the break.

The teams traded baskets to open the second half, tying five times in the opening 10 minutes, but a Chester McFadden fast break layup put Tech ahead for good. The junior guard hit his free throw to push the lead to three with 9:30 left to play. After the Crusaders cut the lead to one, Mifsud hit a free throw and Lindsey knocked down a three-pointer to put Tech up five. Again the visitors cut the deficit to three, but Lindsey hit another trey and Mifsud followed with a layup to stretch the lead to eight. The Warriors hit their layups down the stretch to ice the 72-65 victory.

The Warriors finished the contest 16-for-41 (39%) from the field, 10-for-20 (50%) from behind the arc and 30-for-41 (73.2%) from the free throw line while the defense held Madonna to 39.7 percent (23-for-58) shooting with the Crusaders finishing 11-for-18 (61.15) from the charity stripe.

Lindsey finished with a team-high 20 points with Tanner Watkins adding 13 while Mifsud finished with six. Lindsey also had eight rebounds with Tyrese Edwards and Lavonte Davis each tallying five.

Tech will look to win three in a row for the second time this season when they return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 7 in Grand Rapids, Mich. against #12 Cornerstone at 7:30 p.m.

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