FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Warriors hold off a late surge by Concordia to come out victorious 66-61.

Tech opened the game with an impressive dunk right off the tip where Cory McKinney found Grant Smith behind the defense and lobbed it up for the dunk and a quick 2-0 lead. Concordia bounced back to tie the game at 2-2 only to kickstart the Warriors into an 8-0 run to lead 10-2 with 16:10 on the clock. Tech extended their lead to ten with a layup by Josh Kline at 14:52 before the Cardinals answered with a three on the next possession. The Warriors scored six straight to lead 20-7 just before the halfway mark of the first half.

Tech maintained a healthy lead and even extended it even further to fifteen (29-14) with a three by David Froedge at the eight-minute mark. The Warriors led 31-17 before the Cardinals had a 5-0 run to get within nine and then a jumper at the halftime buzzer to get within eight (34-26).

The second half started with a basket for each team when Tech took control for a 6-0 run to lead 43-28 at 17:00. The Cardinals responded with five straight points to get within ten before Grant Smith made a jumper to end their run. Concordia did it again with a 7-0 run to get within five with just 10:39 left to play. The Cardinals got within one (50-49) with 6:16 on the clock and scored the next basket to take a 52-50 lead with 5:22 left to play. Three free throws gave the Warriors back the lead only for Concordia to drain a three to take a 55-53 lead. Smith tied it up only for the Cardinals to earn a four-point play to lead by four (59-55) with 3:07 left.

A pair of free throws by Smith along with a fast break dunk from Smith tied the game for the Warriors at 59-59. The Cardinals got one more basket before Tech took control scoring the next six points to win the game 66-61.

Smith led the Warriors with 16 points and recorded six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Josh Kline tallied 14 points and six rebounds while Cory McKinney earned eight points, nine rebounds and three assists. As a team, Tech shot 46.3 percent from the field, 13.3 percent from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe. The Warriors earned 38 points in the paint, 13 points from the bench, six fast break points, 11 second chance points and 20 points off turnovers.

The Warriors hit the road for their next game on Saturday, February 20^th at Rochester for a 3:30 p.m. start.