FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team won its fifth game in a row to start the season as they defeated Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) foe Madonna, 97-58, in their home and conference opener Wednesday evening at the Schaefer Center.
 
Dylan Phair led a balanced attack for Tech, who had six players with double-digit scoring efforts, with 16 points while grabbing four rebounds. Mitch Morken added 15 points on 5-6 shooting from three-point range while Edmond Early, Jr. had 13 points and a team-high seven assists. Nic Williams notched his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Darren Groves and Max Huber had 12 and 11 points, respectively, while each grabbed six boards.
 
The Warriors would open the game on a 16-4 spurt, with Huber throwing down a massive tomahawk slam to bring the crowd to its feet just four minutes into the game, and force the Crusaders to call a pair of early timeouts at the 14:51 and 13:36 marks.
 
Madonna would battle back to cut the deficit to single digits at 29-21 with 5:53 to go in the first half, but a layup by Groves would spark a 10-0 run to give the Orange and Black a 39-21 lead just three minutes later. A 9-0 spurt from the hosts, capped by a triple from Groves just before the buzzer, would give the Warriors a 48-24 lead at the half.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers from Phair would start the second half for Tech as they used a 17-6 run to extend their lead to 35 points four minutes into the half. The Warriors would continue to roll on both sides of the court throughout the rest of the game, shooting 43.2% from the floor and 46.7% from downtown to lead by as many as 41 while not allowing their lead to fall under 34 points in the final 16 minutes of action.
 
Tech (5-0, 1-0 WHAC) returns to action on Saturday as they host Siena Heights. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.