MARION, Ind. (Box Score) -- Jon Moon hit six 3-point buckets in an 82-70 victory for the No. 6-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball team over Grace (Ind.) College amid ?Black Out' conditions.

As the black clad crowd created an umbra over Luckey Arena, Moon scorched the Lancers for a season high 21 points behind a 6-for-7 performance from deep. Moon's hot shooting helped the Wildcats keep pace with Bethel (Ind.) College as the teams remained tied atop the Mid-Central College Conference with one game remaining.

An Indiana Wesleyan victory on Saturday over visiting Taylor (Ind.) University would assure the Wildcats at least a co-conference championship with Bethel. A Wildcat win and Bethel loss on Saturday secures an outright championship for IWU.

But No. 17-ranked Grace provided a huge obstacle for Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday night as both teams were nationally ranked and entered the contest with 11 conference victories.

Indiana Wesleyan (24-5, 12-3 MCC) though took control of the game early and attacked the Lancers on both ends of the court.

Grace held a slim 8-7 lead until Indiana Wesleyan raced to an 18-5 run to build a 25-13 advantage with 9:51 in the half. During that span the Wildcats connected on four 3-point baskets, three by Moon.

The Lancers (20-9, 11-5 MCC) answered with five straight points but could not close the gap any closer as the Wildcats outscored the visitors 12-3 over the next six minutes. The Lancers added the last basket before the half as IWU went into the break with a 37-23 advantage.

Moon opened the second half with another 3-pointer to push the Wildcat lead to its largest of the game at 17 points (40-23).

Grace senior center Eric Gaff would score on the next Lancer possession as the Indiana Wesleyan lead remained between 10-16 points for the next nine minutes. Gaff ended the night with 16 points and 11 boards.

The Lancers finally cut the deficit to single digits with just under 10 minutes to play at 52-43. Over the next three minutes, Grace trimmed the lead to seven points on two difference occasions, but would not get any closer the rest of the game.

Indiana Wesleyan connected on 12-of-14 free throw attempts in the last 2:21 of the game to secure the huge conference victory and a top two seed for the upcoming MCC Tournament.

Indiana Wesleyan hit on 54.0-percent (27 of 50) of their shots and 50.0-percent (11 of 22) from beyond the arc to bury Grace. The Lancers did shoot 51.7-percent (31 of 60), but were just 20.0-percent (3 of 15) from deep and committed 15 turnovers.

IWU senior guard Antonio Murrell recorded a game-high 23 points in addition to seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Derrick Troyer, who is 5-0 as the starting guard in place of injured starter Spencer Harris, added 14 points and senior forward Landon Adler added 12 points and seven caroms.

Wildcat junior forward Zach Coverstone blocked three Grace shot attempts on the night. With the blocks, he tied the program record for blocks in a career with 178 and surpassed his own single season record, which now stands at 64. He added eight points, five boards and six assists in the winning effort.

Indiana Wesleyan will next host cross-county rival Taylor at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 21 in Luckey Arena. A win guarantees the Wildcats at least a share of the conference title in the final regular season game of the year. Come dressed in red to support the Wildcats run for a MCC championship!