FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 23-ranked Indiana Tech men's basketball team fell to No. 8-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 83-77, Tuesday evening inside the Schaefer Center.
 
Jeremy Luciani led the Warriors with a career-high 13 points on 6-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Corey McKinney had 12 points while Josh Kline had 11 points and three rebounds. Jeremy Davison and Lucas Lehrman each had 10 points with the latter grabbing four rebounds.
 
Kline gave the Warriors the first lead of the night on their opening possession, but a quick 6-0 run from the Cougars put them up 6-2. Tech came right back with a three-pointer from Davison and a jumper from Morken to go up 7-6 at the 17:16 mark, but Mount Vernon went on a 13-1 run to take a 19-8 lead with 13:35 left in the first half.
 
Lehrman broke a 3:18 scoring drought for the hosts with a layup coming out of a Tech timeout, but the Cougars still held a 12-point advantage at 32-20 with 8:32 left in the opening half. A bucket from Luciani sparked an 11-1 run that brought the Orange and Black to within three points at 34-31. A triple and layup from McKinney knotted the game up at 36-all with 2:02 on the clock, but MVNU ended the half on a 6-2 run, with Morken hitting a jumper at the buzzer, to hold a 42-38 lead at the break.
 
Tech got to within two points 13 seconds into the second half with a basket from McKinney, only to see the Cougars extend their lead back up to nine points at 52-43 at the 14:34 mark. The visitors continued to hold onto the lead, but couldn't break the game open as the Warriors kept fighting. A fast break layup from Huber made it a 70-66 game with 4:02 on the clock, but that would be as close as Tech would get as the Cougars handed the Orange and Black their fourth straight loss with the 83-77 win.
 
Tech (0-4) returns to action on Saturday as they host Trinity International University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.