MARION, Ind. (Box Score) -- Clutch 3-point baskets and free throws protected the Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball lead for an 80-75 victory over Huntington (Ind.) University in a Mid-Central College Conference showdown on Saturday afternoon in Luckey Arena.

After Huntington cut the Indiana Wesleyan lead to two points at 65-63 with 2:46 to play, senior guard Jon Moon and junior guard Spencer Harris connected from deep on back-to-back possessions. Huntington was then forced to foul and Indiana Wesleyan sank nine free throws in the final 1:11 of the contest to lock down the win.

The No. 10-ranked Wildcats never trailed throughout the contest and built a lead as large as 12 points in the first half. IWU also gained a 10 point lead in the second half at 79-69 following a free throw from senior guard Ian McCulla with 16 seconds remaining.

Both teams ended the afternoon with five players scoring double digits. Indiana Wesleyan junior forward Zach Coverstone led all players with 18 points in addition to eight boards and five blocked shots. He finished 5-of-7 from the floor and 8-of-12 from the free throw line.

The beginning of the game was dominated by Indiana Wesleyan as the Wildcats manufactured a 17-8 lead just over five minutes in. Indiana Wesleyan gained their first double digit lead at 27-17 halfway through the half and earned their largest lead of 12 points (33-21) with 8:14 before the break.

Huntington (12-5, 1-2 MCC) slowly chipped away at the Indiana Wesleyan lead as halftime approached and trailed just 44-39 with 1:37 on the clock. A pair of Coverstone free throws for IWU ended the half with the Wildcats up 46-39 as the teams left for halftime.

After an up-tempo first half, play was considerably slowed down in the second half. Seven and a half minutes into the second stanza, the Foresters nearly erased the Wildcats' halftime cushion as the Foresters trailed 53-51 following a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Tyler Shively.

Indiana Wesleyan (14-3, 2-1 MCC) responded by going down low to Coverstone in the post. He scored eight of the next 11 Wildcat points over an eight minute stretch to increase the IWU lead to six points at 63-57 and 4:31 to play.

The teams traded free throws on their next possessions before Huntington ran off four straight points to cut the IWU lead down to two points once again. But Indiana Wesleyan repelled the late Huntington charge with the 3-point buckets and free throws to assure the big conference win.

IWU senior guard Antonio Murrell ended the night 11-of-11 from the charity striped as he scored 15 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Harris added 13 points as did sophomore forward Will Hubertz off the bench. Senior forward Landon Adler contributed 12 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting.

Indiana Wesleyan shot a blistering 66.7-percent (16 of 24) in the opening frame and ended the day at 52.1-percent (25 of 48). IWU passed out 15 assists while only committing nine turnovers as a team.

The Foresters shot 43.1-percent (26 of 63) from the field and 47.1-percent (8 of 17) from 3-point land. Huntington was led in scoring by Shively with 15 points.

Things do not get any easier for Indiana Wesleyan in their next game as the Wildcats host the only unbeaten team left in the conference in Spring Arbor (Mich.) University. The Cougars upset No. 2-ranked Bethel (Ind.) College 66-65 today to improve to 16-2 overall and 4-0 in the MCC.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6 in Luckey Arena.