MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – The No. 5-ranked Indiana Tech men's basketball team fell to No. 15-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene in double overtime, 101-98, in their season opener Saturday evening inside Ariel Arena.
 
Darnei Hairston scored a team-high 19 points off the bench in his career debut for the Warriors, going 7-11 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range. Darren Groves scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds while Joel Wincowski had 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Logan Primerano added 11 points while Edmond Early, Jr. had 10 off the bench.
 
The Warriors came out the gates firing as the rattle off the first seven points of the game while not allowing the Cougars to get on the scoreboard until the 15:11 mark of the first half while the hosts went 0-7 from the field to start the game. A 15   -3 spurt from MVNU though, would give them the momentum.
 
The Cougars grew their advantage to as many as 12 points in the half, leading 29-17 with 6:37 on the clock. Tech slowly began to chip away at the lead with a 9-0 spurt by Dilyn Good making it a 33-28 game with 2:24 to play until the half. Hairston would then hit back-to-back three's on the Warriors final two possessions of the half to make it a 40-36 game at the break.
 
Tech continued their strong play in the second half as they tied the game up at 50-50 with 13:42 to play in regulation after a pair of free throws from Dylan Phair, while a jumper from Mitch Morken at the 13:13 mark put the Orange and Black ahead by two. Mount Vernon Nazarene would retake the lead and held a 72-64 lead with five minutes to play and held a five-point lead with 1:14 to go in the half. A three from Early and an and-one play from Wincowski put the Warriors ahead 81-79 with nine seconds to play, but the Cougars hit a jumper with two seconds to go to tie it up and send the game into overtime.
 
MVNU scored the first two baskets of overtime to take a four-point lead, but a three from Early knotted the game back up at 87-87 with 61 seconds left in the period and the two teams would need a second overtime to decide the season opener.
 
Groves scored the first five points of the second overtime to put the visitors up 92-87, but an 8-0 run from the Cougars gave them a 95-92 lead with 38 seconds to play. Wincowski would hit back-to-back jumpers to bring Tech within a single point with 31 and six seconds to go, but the Cougars would go 4-4 from the free throw line in the final five seconds of action to outlast the Warriors.
 
Tech (0-1) returns to action on Tuesday as they continue play their second of four straight Crossroads League foes with a trip to No. 23-ranked Bethel College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Gates Gymnasium inside the Wiekamp Athletics Center.