FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 15th-ranked and third-seeded Indiana Tech defeated sixth-seeded Concordia, 72-64, in the first round of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament on Wednesday evening at the Schaefer Center.
Miles Robinson had a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds.
Tanner Watkins added 17 points off the bench on 6-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point territory.
Scott Schwieterman chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting.
Lavonte Davis and
Dominique Walls grabbed nine boards apiece, with Davis adding nine points and four blocks, while Davis chipped in five blocks and two steals.
Both sides took a while to find their rhythm on the offensive side of the court, as evidenced by a 3:34 scoring drought just over three and a half minutes into the first half where the two teams would combine to go 0-for-8 from the floor. A layup from the Cardinals would break the drought and give Concordia a 9-7 lead with 14:02 to go in the first half.
Tech would battle back and used an 18-4 run to take a 29-19 lead with 3:51 left in the half, with Watkins hitting three three-pointers in that stretch, as the Warriors took a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
A 6-0 run from the visitors to open the second half cut the Orange and Black's advantage to two with just under three minutes gone, but Tech would keep the Cardinals at bay and not allow them to take the lead the rest of the game.
After Concordia got within three with 11:02 left in the game, Watkins would again hit back-to-back triples to push the advantage to 48-39. Schwieterman then went on a 6-0 spurt of his own to put
John Peckinpaugh's team up 54-44 with 7:45 to go.
The Cardinals cut the deficit to four twice in the final minute of the game, but the Warriors made sure the ball got in the hands of Robinson, the WHAC Newcomer of the Year, as he hit six free throws in the last 44 seconds, while Davis and Walls both recorded huge blocks down the stretch to give the Orange and Black the ball back and hold off the Cardinals.
Tech (23-8) will most travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday to take on second-seeded, eighth-ranked and defending national champion Cornerstone at Mol Arena. Start time is slated for 3 p.m. and links to live video and stats will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com.
