FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team opened up Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play with a 79-63 victory over the University of Northwestern Ohio Wednesday evening inside the Schaefer Center. Tech has now won six straight conference games and six consecutive games on their home court.
 
Grant Smith notched a season-high 30 points, just one point off his career best, to go along with five assists, five steals and three rebounds. Cory McKinney had 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds while Josh Kline had nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Playing just their second game of the season, the Racers jumped out to a 17-8 lead over the Warriors. With 14:26 on the clock, Tech responded with a triple from McKinney to go on a 12-4 run and cut the deficit to 21-20 with 11:47 left in the first half following the conversion of an and-one play from Smith. UNOH held steady though, using a triple from Aaron Hammond to go back up by two possessions and continued to possess the lead. Back-to-back triples from Jeremy Davison and Max Perez lifted the Orange and Black to a 31-30 lead the 7:04 mark, their first since the 19:36 mark following their opening possession of the game. The visitors tied the game up with a free throw on the ensuing possession, but Tech responded with an 8-0 run to make it a 39-31 game. The Warriors kept the Racers on their bumper to end the half thanks to a dunk from Lucas Lehrman and a bucket from Smith just before the buzzer sounded to take a 46-37 lead into the locker room.
 
The Warriors pushed the lead into double digits on their opening possession of the second half thanks to a bucket from Kline, but the Racers battled back to make it a 50-46 game with 15:55 to go. Smith began to heat up then as the junior guard scored 13 points over a 10-minute stretch starting at the 13:52 mark with a pair of free throws. A steal and dunk from Smith would be followed by a triple and a fast break jumper in the paint by the Connersville, Indiana native to make it a 66-52 game with 8:43 to go. Lehrman notched his second dunk of the night at the 6:52 mark to make it a 16-point advantage while Tech put the brakes on the Racers with a 5:24 scoring drought that was broke at the 4:13 mark of the half thanks to a jumper from Nathan Lessing, who finished the night with a team-best 22 points. UNOH cut the deficit to 14 points with 2:44 to go, but it was not enough to overcome the lead as Tech cruised to the win.
 
Tech (8-6, 1-0 WHAC) returns to action on Tuesday, January 19 as they host Saint Xaiver University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.