FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team began its journey for a postseason crown Thursday evening as they defeated Aquinas College, 90-75, in the quarterfinals of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament inside the Schaefer Center.
 
Josh Kline and Max Perez led the way with 18 points apiece, with the former adding two rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while the latter had three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Cory McKinney had 14 points, six assists and two rebounds while Rog Stein had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Grant Smith, the WHAC Player of the Week and owner of the number one play on SportsCenter's Top 10 this past Sunday, had 11 points and three rebounds.
 
Tech came out of the gates firing with an 18-4 run over the first four minutes of the game. Aquinas cut the deficit down to 10 points with a quick 4-0 run, but the Warriors went back on the offensive with a 13-4 run to take a 31-12 lead at the 8:27 mark. Tech, who finished the first half going 18-28 from the floor, 4-8 from behind the arc and 8-10 from the charity stripe, continued to push the pace and control the momentum through the remainder of the half, as they never allowed the lead to get under 14 points while leading by as many as 19 en route to the 48-31 halftime lead.
 
While the Warriors maintained their 19-point cushion at the 16:19 mark of the second half, the Saints would not go down without a fight as they went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to 59-49. Tech recovered quickly though, as a bucket from McKinney started a 15-5 spurt to push their lead up to 74-54 and 5:27 left in the game to put the momentum back in the hands of the hosts. Aquinas had one more late charge in them, but couldn't get the deficit to single digits as the Warriors knocked out the Saints with a 90-75 win.
 
Tech (19-8) returns to action on Saturday as they host Concordia University – Ann Arbor in the WHAC Tournament Semifinals. Opening tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.