Box Score
MARION, Ind. -- Sophomore Zach Coverstone scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the No. 5-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men?s basketball team to a 76-54 victory over Indiana University-Northwest in the opening night of the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Tournament at Luckey Arena.
The Wildcats also used a big second half and a stifling defense to advance to the championship game. Indiana Wesleyan outscored the RedHawks 40-23 in the second half of action and held the visitors to just 28.6-percent (18 for 63) shooting on the evening.
Indiana Wesleyan started off slow as IU-Northwest captured an early 7-5 lead. But the Wildcats responded with 11 consecutive points to take a 16-7 lead. IWU never trailed the rest of the game.
Indiana Wesleyan (2-1) built their largest lead of the first half at 11 when sophomore Ryan Hetrick connected on a three-pointer to give IWU the 19-8 lead with 11 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the first half.
IU-Northwest (1-1) eventually closed the gap to three points in the half as the RedHawks hit two free throws to make it a 28-25 game. Indiana Wesleyan would take a 36-31 advantage into the locker room.
The RedHawks earned the first basket in the second half, a three-pointer, to close the Wildcat lead to two at 36-34. Indiana Wesleyan used another run, nine unanswered points, to garner a double-digit lead of 45-34. Freshman Will Hubertz nailed a three with 9:49 left to push the Wildcat lead to 55-38. Hubertz ended the night with 11 points and five rebounds.
Indiana Wesleyan obtained their largest lead of the game at 24 points (76-52) before settling for the 76-54 victory.
Sophomore Spencer Harris made his Luckey Arena debut for the Wildcats and recorded15 points and five assists.
Indiana Wesleyan took advantage in the paint against the RedHawks. IWU out rebounded IU-Northwest 51-34 and out scored them 42-10 in the paint.
In the first contest of the night, East-West (Ill.) University defeated Illinois Tech 58-52 to advance in the tournament.
Indiana Wesleyan will host East-West at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 10 in the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Tournament championship. Illinois Tech and IU-Northwest will battle at 2 p.m. in the consolation game.
