Box Score MARION, Ind. (Box Score) -- No. 7-seed Goshen (Ind.) College was limited to just six points in the first 11 minutes of the men's basketball game tonight at Luckey Arena as Indiana Wesleyan University earned a convincing 66-45 victory in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament First Round.
Indiana Wesleyan, the tournament's No. 2-seed, will next play No. 6-seed Huntington (Ind.) University. Huntington upset No. 3-seed Grace (Ind.) College 76-73.
The Wildcats built an early 20-6 advantage following a second chance basket by junior forward Zach Coverstone with 8:43 remaining in the half.
Goshen (14-17) had no answer for Indiana Wesleyan on the boards, especially in the first 20 minutes of play. IWU ended the night with a 44-25 margin in rebounds and pulled down 16 offensive boards. At halftime, Indiana Wesleyan held a 26-10 advantage with 11 offensive caroms.
After the Wildcats built a 26-11 lead, the Maple Leafs scored six straight to narrow the difference to single digits at 26-17. IWU senior guard Antonio Murrell beat the shot clock 33 seconds later to push the lead to 12 points at 29-17. The lead never reached single digits the rest of the evening as Murrell finished with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Indiana Wesleyan senior guard Jon Moon grabbed a rebound and connected on an off-balanced shot attempt that found the bottom of the net as time expired in the opening half to hand IWU its largest lead at the time, 37-21.
Goshen closed the gap to 39-27 three minutes into the second ha
lf, but a 10-1 Indiana Wesleyan run quickly dispelled any Maple Leaf comeback attempt. Indiana Wesleyan led by as many as 24 points before settling for the 21 point win.
Moon led Indiana Wesleyan (26-5) in scoring with 15 points. Coverstone, Adler and junior guard Ryan Hetrick each chipped in with eight points. Adler led all players with 10 boards.
IWU freshman guard Derrick Troyer won his seventh straight start for the Wildcats in place of injured starting guard Spencer Harris, who came off the bench for his first minutes since January 27. Harris ended with nine points and Troyer added five points and six assists.
Goshen was hounded all game long as the Indiana Wesleyan defense held the Maple Leafs to just 38.5-percent (20 of 52) shooting and just 1-of-11 (9.1-percent) from 3-point range.
The Maple Leafs were led in scoring tonight by junior guard Errick McCollum with 20 points.
No. 6-ranked Indiana Wesleyan will move on the MCC Tournament Semifinals with a home date against Huntington. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 28 in Luckey Arena.
