FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 15^th-ranked and third-seeded Indiana Tech men's basketball team hosts sixth-seeded Concordia on Wednesday evening in the Schaefer Center as they open up the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament.
 
#15 Indiana Tech (22-8, 17-5 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 7:00 p.m. vs. Concordia (13-17, 9-13 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
Saturday, Feb. 27, 1/3 p.m. WHAC Semifinals – Higher seed
Monday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m. WHAC Championship – Higher seed
 
Following the Warriors: Links to live stats and video for Wednesday's game will be available via Stretch Internet at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/indianatech/. You can also follow @INTechMBB and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to stay up to date on the action. Links for the semifinals and finals will be posted to IndianaTechWarriors.com once they are available.
 
Last Time Out: Tech closed out its regular season on a high note with an 87-69 Senior Day victory over Madonna on Saturday. Senior Jaelan Manson scored a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from the three-point line, while grabbing a career-high 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.
 
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: Concordia – The Cardinals come into Wednesday's contest having made the WHAC Tournament every year since the 1998-99 season, and snapped a three-game losing skid on Saturday with an 89-65 win over Marygrove. Alec Turner leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and assists (2.8 apg) while shooting 35.9% from downtown. Joe Remstad pulls down 6.3 rebounds a night to pace the squad while Austin Elam is shooting a team-best 55.7% from the floor.
 
Series History: Concordia – Tech is 15-7 against the Cardinals since the 2005-06 season, and won both matchups this season, holding on for a 71-68 victory at home on Dec. 21 and winning 77-63 in Ann Arbor on Dec. 5.


Here Come the Awards: The Warriors outstanding regular season was awarded on Tuesday with the release of the WHAC Honors. Miles Robinson and Dominique Walls highlighted Tech with First-Team All-Conference selections, while head coach John Peckinpaugh was named Coach of the Year. Robinson and Walls were also named to the All-Newcomer Team, with the former being named Newcomer of the Year and the latter being selected to the All-Defensive Team.
 
Awards Part Two: Seniors Tyrece Edwards and Milos Milidragovic, and juniors Lavonte Davis and Tanner Watkins, were named to the WHAC All-Academic Team on Tuesday. Watkins also named to the Characters of Champion Team for the conference.
 
Tourney History: Tech is 12-16 since the 1998-99 season and has made the tournament every year except for the 2014-15 campaign. The Orange and Black are 9-7 in first round games of the tournament, with their best finish coming in 2010-11, when they fell in the finals to regular season champion Cornerstone.
 
Win and Get In: With the NAIA National Tournament coming up on March 9 in Point Lookout, Missouri the Warriors can still clinch an automatic bid by winning the WHAC Tournament. Tech can still receive an at-large bid in the field of 32 if they fail to win the tournament though with their regular season performance.
 
Moving On Up: The Warriors moved up five spots to number 15 in this week's NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll after jumping two spots up to number 20 last week. This is the first time since Jan. 16, 2012 that Tech has been in the top-15, when they held the same ranking.
 
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 leads the team in scoring (19.8 ppg) and assists (3.1 apg) while hitting 42.5% of his shots, 38.5% of his three-point attempts and pulling down 5.4 rebounds per game.
 
Back at It: Junior forward Lavonte Davis return from injury has made a huge impact this year for the Warriors. He is second on the team in blocks (2.3) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) while chipping in 9.0 points per game. The Ypsilanti, Michigan native is logging 30.6 minutes a night while shooting 51.2% 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 18^th nationally. He is second on the team in scoring at 13.9 ppg while shooting 58.1% from the field, the second best mark in the conference while ranking 14^th in the country. On the glass, he is pulling down 9.2 rebounds a night and has recorded double-digit rebounds in 15 games, including a career-high 18 against Marygrove.
 
Locking it Down: Tech is holding its opponents to just 65.7 points per game this year, the fifth-best mark in the land while holding its opponents to just 39.8% shooting, placing the Warriors sixth. Their three-point defense is just at stingy, limiting foes to 33.2% from downtown, 31^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 (184) and second in blocks per game (6.1). Davis is third in blocks (68) nationally and eight in blocks per game (2.3) while Walls is second (71) and fifth (2.4), respectively.
 
This and That: Miles Robinson set career-highs in points (35) and field goal attempts (30) last Wednesday against Cornerstone…Jaelan Manson set career-highs in points (30) and made three-point field goal attempts (5) against Madonna last Saturday…the Warriors have only had four 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 and #9), IU East (#10), Aquinas (#24 and #22), Grace (RV) and Rochester (RV). Tech is 4-6 in those games, with all six loses coming to teams ranked in the top-10, and three of those coming against top-five opponents.
 
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.