FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The 20^th-ranked Indiana Tech men's basketball team looks to close out the regular season strong this week as they take their six-game winning streak on the road as they take on defending national champion and ninth-ranked Cornerstone before hosting Madonna on Senior Day on Saturday.
 
#20 Indiana Tech (21-7, 16-4 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. at #9 Cornerstone (22-5, 17-3 WHAC) – Grand Rapids, Michigan (Mol Arena)
Saturday, Feb. 20, 3 p.m. vs. Madonna (14-14, 11-9 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
 
Following the Warriors: Links to live stats and video for both games will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also follow @INTechMBB and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to stay up to date on the action.
 
Last Time Out: The Orange and Black defeated Lawrence Tech, 63-46, on Saturday for their sixth straight win. Miles Robinson had a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. He also had three assists and two steals. Dominique Walls added 17 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the year and also had three steals. Tanner Watkins chipped in 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-5 from the three-point line. Jaelan Manson had seven rebounds, three points and three assists off the bench while Lavonte Davis grabbed five rebounds and had two blocks.
 
Head Coach John Peckinpaugh: Now in his second season at the helm for the Orange and Black, as well as his second stint with the program, head coach John Peckinpaugh went 11-19 in his first season as the head man for the Warriors. Peckinpaugh returned to Indiana Tech after serving as an assistant for the Warriors during the 2012-2013 season, where he served as the recruiting coordinator He was instrumental in recruiting all of the returning Tech players for the 2014-2015 season during this time. In between stints with Tech, the Muncie, Indiana native served as a graduate assistant for his alma mater, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) during the 2013-14 year. While with the Mastodons, he was part of a coaching staff that helped the team achieve its most successful season in program history with a 25-11 record and rising to as high as 19^th in the NCAA Division I Mid-Major poll. IPFW made it all the way to the Summit League Tournament Championship game, losing to North Dakota State, who would go on to upset fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mastodons would make the postseason for the first-time ever as a Division I program that season as well when they hosted Akron in the College Insider.com Tournament and defeated the Zips, 97-91.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Cornerstone – The Golden Eagles have won their last eight games, most recently demolishing Marygrove 120-66, and are currently second in the WHAC standings, trailing only crosstown rival and top-ranked Davenport, who they play on Saturday. Kyle Steigenga was named the WHAC Player of the Week on Monday and is averaging a team-high 20.4 points per game while shooting 66% from the field, the third-best mark in the nation. Ben Lanning leads the team in rebounding (8.6 rpg) and blocks (1.4) while chipping in 15 points per game.
 
Madonna – The Crusaders play host to Siena Heights on Wednesday before taking on the Warriors and most recently defeated Lourdes on Saturday, 73-65. Khalil Malone leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and assists (3.2) while shooting 44.8% from the field. Chris Dierker leads the team in rebounding (8.1) and steals (1.4).
 
Series History: Cornerstone – Tech is 10-27 against the Golden Eagles since Jan. 19, 2002, having lost their last eight games in the series, most recently falling to the then-seventh ranked team in the nation on Jan. 6, 76-68. Miles Robinson had a team-high 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes. Tanner Watkins added 13 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Dominique Walls notched his seventh double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding a pair of steals and a block. Milos Milidragovic went 5-of-7 from the field en route to a season-high 11 points.
 
Madonna – The Warriors are 14-12 against the Crusaders since Jan. 11, 2006, most recently falling in the team's earlier meeting back on Jan. 9, 97-89. Miles Robinson had 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting while picking up three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Dominique Walls had 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season while recording two blocks. Lavonte Davis chipped in with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds while swatting four shots. Tanner Watkins had a nine points and a team-high four assists.
 
Moving On Up: The Warriors moved up two spots to number 20 in this week's NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll and jumping back into the last week at #22. This is the second time this season the Orange and Black have been ranked inside the top-20, the previous coming back on Jan. 5 when they were ranked in the same spot.
 
Looking Ahead: With just two games left in the regular season, the Warriors are guaranteed of hosting a first round game in the WHAC Tournament on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., but their final seeding and opponent is still to be determined. Tech has an outside shot of finishing second in the conference, but would need to defeated Cornerstone on Wednesday and have the Golden Eagles lose to Davenport on Saturday while taking care of business against Madonna. Right now the Orange and Black are third and hold a game-lead over Aquinas.
 
Honoring the Seniors: Head coach John Peckinpaugh and the Warriors will honor the team's four seniors: Dominique Walls, Jaelan Manson, Tyrece Edwards and Milos Milidragovic, before Saturday's game against Madonna.

Earning His Keep: Dominique Walls was named the WHAC Player of the Week on Feb. 8 after averaging 12 points, 14.7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2.7 blocks in three Tech victories. He had two double-doubles and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds against Marygrove while adding 20 points and three blocks. Against the 22^nd ranked Saints on Saturday he pulled down 15 rebounds and chipped in 11 points and three more blocks.
 
Twice as Nice: Miles Robinson was named the WHAC Player of the Week for the second week in a row on Jan. 25 after averaging 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, five assists and three steals against Lourdes and Davenport. Against the top-ranked Panthers he set career highs in points (30) rebounds (12) and steals (5) while getting his second double-double of the season. The Grand Rapids native scored 13 points against the Gray Wolves while collecting six assists and five rebounds.
 
Mr. Everything: Miles Robinson has been among the most consistent players for the Warriors this year and his name appears everywhere on the box score. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native has scored in double digits in all but one game this season and he leads the team in scoring (19.3 ppg) and assists (3.2 apg) while hitting 42.4% of his shots, 39.1% of his three-point attempts and pulling down 5.4 rebounds per game. He's also a dead-eye shooter at the charity stripe, hitting 87.2% of his attempts, the seventh-best mark in the nation and second in the WHAC.
 
Back at It: Junior forward Lavonte Davis return from injury has made a huge impact this year for the Warriors, leading the team in blocks (2.4) and is second in rebounding (6.1 rpg) while chipping in 9.3 points per game. The Ypsilanti, Michigan native is logging 30.8 minutes a night while shooting 51.8% from the floor.
 
Mr. Double-Double: Dominique Walls has a knack for reaching the double digit plateau in both scoring and rebounding and that combination has gotten him 12 double-doubles on the year, the most in the WHAC and is tied for 12^th nationally. He is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 ppg while shooting 58.5% from the field, the second best mark in the conference while ranking 12^th in the country. On the glass, he is pulling down 9.1 rebounds a night and has recorded double-digit rebounds in 14 games, including a career-high 18 against Marygrove.
 
Locking it Down: Tech is holding its opponents to just 64.5 points per game this year, the fourth-best mark in the land while holding its opponents to just 39.5% shooting, placing the Warriors fifth. Their three-point defense is just at stingy, limiting foes to 32.2% from downtown, 21^st in NAIA Division II.
 
Block Party: The Warriors imitating frontline duo of Dominique Walls and Lavonte Davis has been swatting opponent shots all season long and the duo rank among the best in the country. As a team Tech leads the nation in total blocks (171) and second in blocks per game (6.1). Davis is third in blocks (66) nationally and sixth in blocks per game (2.4) while Walls is fifth (65) and fifth (2.3), respectively.
 
This and That: Tech limited Lawrence Tech to just eight throw attempts on Saturday, the fewest the team has allowed all season…Tanner Watkins tied his season-high for good three-pointers in a game this year when he hit five against UNOH last Wednesday…this is the second time this year the Orange and Black have won six games in a row as they won eight straight games from Dec. 12-Jan. 6…the Warriors have only had three players foul out this season.
 
Tough Sledding: The Warriors have faced off with eight teams that were ranked or receiving votes in any of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll: Davenport (#3 and #1), Saint Francis (#4), Cornerstone (#7), IU East (#10), Aquinas (#24 and #22), Grace (RV) and Rochester (RV). Tech takes on #9 Cornerstone this Wednesday.
 
Getting to Know One Another: Peckinpaugh hit the recruiting trail hard in his first true offseason and went to great distances to find his current crop of players. Tech has student-athletes from six different states: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, and three countries: Australia, Serbia and the United States. Ohio tops the list with five players hailing from the Buckeye State, while Indiana is next with four. Michigan and Florida have contributed two apiece while Illinois and Kentucky each have one.
 
Poll Thoughts: Indiana Tech was picked to finish in a tie for seventh the WHAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. Tech picked up 62 votes to tie with Michigan-Dearborn. The Warriors finished 11-19 last year with an 8-14 mark in conference play.
 
Lots of New Faces: While the Warriors returned eight players from last year's squad, that didn't stop Peckinpaugh from hitting the recruiting trail hard as he added five freshman and four transfers to the mix. Among the transfers, junior Jantzen Goodwin (Vincennes University), senior Jaelan Manson (Vincennes University) and senior Dominique Walls (Ashford University) will all look to make an immediate impact for Tech, while junior Edmond Early, Jr. (Owens Community College) will redshirt this season.