FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 20 Indiana Tech men's basketball team used a strong shooting performance, including a career-high scoring day from senior Jaelan Manson, and stifling defense to close out the regular season with an 87-69 victory over Madonna on Saturday afternoon at the Schaefer Center on Senior Day.
 
The win locks up the third seed for the Warriors in next week's Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament. They will host sixth seed Concordia on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Schaefer Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Manson had a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from the three point line, while grabbing eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Miles Robinson had 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists while playing all 40 minutes. Senior Dominique Walls had 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks while classmate Milos Milidragovic chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in his first start of the season. Tanner Watkins added 10 points off the bench while senior Tyrece Edwards had six points and three rebounds.
 
Madonna would get out to a 15-8 lead in the first five and a half minutes in the game, but the Warriors would keep chipping away at the deficit, eventually tying the game at 29 off a Manson three with 4:30 left in the half. A Crusaders free throw would give the visitors the lead back, but only temporarily as Tech went on a 7-2 run to close the half and head into the locker room up 36-32.
 
Manson would take center stage to open the second half, scoring the first nine points for the hosts en route to a 12-2 run and putting Tech up 13 with at the 16:29 mark. The Orange and Black's lead would never dip back into single digits for the rest of the game, extending their advantage to as many as 22 points as the Warriors got their 22^nd victory of the season.
 
Tech (22-8, 17-5 WHAC) will host Concordia on Wednesday in the first round of the WHAC Tournament. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and links to live stats and video will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com.