FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team fell to No. 9-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University, 91-71, Thursday evening inside the Schaefer Center.
 
Grant Smith had a team-high 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals while Blake Davison had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench. Rog Stein had nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals while Jeremy Luciani had eight points and three rebounds. Seth Maxwell led all players with 25 points, scoring 23 of them in the second half while Alex Stauffer had 21 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting, including 4-4 from behind the three-point line.
 
The Wildcats raced out to an 11-2 lead in a rematch from the team's season opener and pushed the lead to 19-10 with 12:33 to go in the opening half. The Warriors responded with an 12-2 run over the next five minutes to go up 22-21 following a free throw from Davison at the 7:06 mark. The lead was short-lived though, as Indiana Wesleyan went on an 11-0 run, powered by Stauffer and Tim Adetukasi, to lead 32-22 at the 3:21 mark. Tech cut the lead down to six, but the visitors ended the half strong and took a 42-31 lead in the locker room.
 
Both teams struggled to find the basket to start the second half as the first points weren't recorded until the 17:29 mark as Maxwell slammed down his first of four dunks in the half as the seven-footer scored the first 11 points for the Wildcats in the second half who extended their lead to 53-48. The visitors pushed the advantage to 72-52 with 8:24 to play, but a triple from Luciani sparked an 11-2 run to bring the Orange and Black within 11 points at 74-63. But just as quickly as the Warriors got into the game, the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run to restore the 20-point lead and extinguish any hope of a comeback with 4:04 to play.
 
Tech (12-6) returns to conference action on January 8 as they host Madonna University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.