MARION, Ind. - Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball made a late run at Ashford (Iowa) University but ultimately came up short in a 72-63 defeat at Luckey Arena in the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Tournament championship.

Ashford had built its largest lead of the game at 49-36 with 12:03 remaining and Indiana Wesleyan seemed doomed for its first loss of the season. But the Wildcats scored 15 of the next 19 points to close within two at 53-51 with 8:09 to play.

Three minutes later, sophomore forward Patrick Hopkins scored down low for two of his game-high 22 points to tie the score 58-58.

With the scored knotted at 60, the Saint hit four free throws in a 52-second span to capture a 64-60 lead as 2:23 remained. Hopkins brought the Wildcats to within two with a bucket, but Ashford connected with a field goal and a 3-pointer in their next two possessions for a 69-62 advantage with under a minute to play to seal the win.

Indiana Wesleyan fell behind early in the contest and trailed 35-26 at the half, mostly due to 29.0-percent (9 of 31) shooting and hitting just 2-of-8 from the foul line. The Wildcats' shooting improved in the second half as IWU hit on 55.6-percent (15 of 27), but the Saints rarely missed in the final 20 minutes on 60.0-percent (12 of 20) shooting.

Freshman guard Jordan Weidner was the only other Wildcat in double figures besides Hopkins. He scored 10 and dished out six assists.

Ashford out-rebounded Indiana Wesleyan 37-27 on the afternoon and displayed five guys in double figures. Guard Lamar Wall finished the game with 20 points and seven rebounds and was named Tournament MVP.

Joining Wall on the All-Tournament team was his teammate Jonathan Wyatt, Hopkins, Derek Reeves of East-West (Ill.) University and Rudy Evans of Berea (Ky.) College.

Indiana Wesleyan will play their first road contest of the season their next time out at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9 at Union (Ky.) College.

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