MARION, Ind. -- A strong defensive effort by No. 3-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University stifled Huntington (Ind.) University all night long in the Mid-Central College Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round in Luckey Arena.

Top-seed Indiana Wesleyan held No. 8-seed Huntington to just 31.9-percent (23 of 72) shooting to collect an 83-65 victory and will advance to the MCC Tournament Semifinals with a showdown against No. 4-seed University of Saint Francis (Ind.). USF won their First Round contest by a 95-87 margin over No. 5-seed Goshen (Ind.) College.

The first half showed a very telling story as Indiana Wesleyan dominated Huntington en route to a 39-24 halftime lead. During the first 20 minutes, IWU had runs of 9-0 and 10-2 to stretch the lead to double digits through most of the first half.

The Wildcats shot 51.6-percent (16 of 31) from the floor and 62.5-percent (5 of 8) from 3-point range. The Foresters were on the other end of the spectrum at just 20.0-percent (7 of 35) shooting and 12.5-percent (1 of 8) from deep. By half, Indiana Wesleyan had amassed 10 assists to just one for Huntington.

Huntington (16-15) was able to stay as close as they did due to free throws and rebounds. HU was 9-of-11 (81.8-percent) from the charity stripe in the first half while IWU was just 2-for-3 (66.7-percent). Huntington also held a 27-t0-19 advantage on the boards, including 13 on the offensive end.

The entire second half featured an Indiana Wesleyan lead in double digits, and it never fell under 15 points following the first two minutes of the half.

Indiana Wesleyan senior center Zach Coverstone scored on back-to-back possessions just past the halfway point of the second half to increase the IWU lead to its largest of the night at 22 (65-43).

By the time the horn sounded, Indiana Wesleyan had all 12 players with a rebound and nine in the scoring column.

Five Wildcats scored double figures, led by Coverstone's 20 point performance on 9-of-15 shooting. He also had eight rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots. Senior guard Ryan Hetrick added 14 and freshman guard George Jones IV had 12 while senior guard Spencer Harris and sophomore guard Derrick Troyer each contributed 10 points.

IWU senior forward Josh Williams pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds to tie for game-high honors. Troyer led all players with six assists and Harris added five.

Huntington was led by junior guard Kellen Zawadzki with 17 points.

Indiana Wesleyan (26-5) and Saint Francis will meet in the MCC Tournament Semifinals at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 27 in Luckey Arena. The teams split the regular season series with both teams winning on their home court.

IWU pulled out a convincing 104-81 victory at home on January 9 while Saint Francis squeaked out an 80-76 overtime victory in Fort Wayne on February 9.

Indiana Wesleyan students will not be on campus for the rest of the men's and women's tournament games due to spring break. The Marion community is strongly urged to come support both Wildcat teams in their quest for a conference tournament championship, beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 26 with the women's game against Marian (Ind.) University.

The other men's semifinal contest will pit No. 2-seed Bethel (Ind.) College against No. 3-seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University. The MCC Tournament Championship will then be played on Tuesday, March 2 at the highest seed remaining.

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