MARION, Ind. -- Top-seed Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball scored 20 of the first 25 points against No. 4-seed University of Saint Francis (Ind.) en route to an 87-76 victory in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Semifinals at Luckey Arena.

The victory secures the first ever MCC Tournament Championship Game at Luckey Arena against No. 2-seed Bethel (Ind.) College. The Pilots won 65-57 at home against No. 3-seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University in the other semifinal.

Indiana Wesleyan never trailed throughout the game but was unable to put the game away until the final minutes.

Wildcat junior forward Will Hubertz stepped up in a huge way on Saturday with a career-high 26 points. His previous high was 22 points during his freshman season. Hubertz shot 7-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. He pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and shot 8-of-11 from the free throw line.

It was a well balanced game for Indiana Wesleyan with seven players scoring six or more points. The trend was set early as all five IWU starters had scored less than six minutes into the game with a 16-4 advantage.

Indiana Wesleyan led by double digits for a good portion of the opening half and led 40-30 at the break.

The score remained between eight and 13 points for the first 10 minutes of the second half. A bucket by Saint Francis junior forward DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis with 9:36 left brought the score to 60-54 to close out a 9-2 USF run.

On the next Indiana Wesleyan possession, senior guard Ryan Hetrick upped the lead to nine points courtesy of a 3-point basket, which was a sign for things to come.

Saint Francis made a field goal at 7:52 to bring the deficit to seven points (63-56) when the big shots began to fall for the Indiana Wesleyan.

Hubertz opened a critical Wildcat run with a 3-point bomb on the ensuing IWU possession at 7:08. Hetrick stole the ball on the next Saint Francis possession which led to another Wildcat 3-pointer, this time by freshman guard Aaron Martin in the corner in front of the IWU bench. Sawyer-Davis missed a 3-point attempted on the USF possession and IWU raced down the floor for another Hubertz 3-pointer in the other corner to suddenly put the Wildcats up 16 (72-56) with 6:05 to play as Luckey Arena was at a fever pitch.

Saint Francis (23-9) fought back and cut the Indiana Wesleyan to single digits by the 4:02 mark and then to six points with 1:10 remaining in the game.

But Indiana Wesleyan, who struggled throughout the game from the foul line, converted 7-of-10 free throws in the final 1:08 to fend off Saint Francis and earn a shot at the MCC Tournament title.

No. 3-ranked Indiana Wesleyan earned the double digit victory despite taking 27 less shots than Saint Francis. USF out-rebounded IWU by a 41-to-33 margin and pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, compared to just five for Indiana Wesleyan.

Despite the lopsided field goal attempt numbers, the Wildcats hit on 55.3-percent (26 of 47) of their shots and a blistering 60.0-percent (12 of 20) from beyond the arc. Four Wildcats hit multiple 3-point buckets on the afternoon.

Saint Francis was limited to just 41.9-percent (31 of 74) shooting and 18.8-percent (3 of 16) shooting from deep. The Cougars were led by Sawyer-Davis with 21 points.

Hetrick joined Hubertz with huge games for Indiana Wesleyan. He scored 18 points and hit 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Senior center Zach Coverstone added 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots. Senior guard Spencer Harris was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 11 points in addition to four assists.

Martin, freshman guard George Jones IV and sophomore guard Derrick Troyer all added six points. Martin and Jones each hit a pair of 3's and Troyer added five steals.

Indiana Wesleyan (27-5) earns the right to host the program's first ever MCC Tournament Championship Game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2 in Luckey Arena against No. 2-seed Bethel. The two teams split during the regular season with each team winning on its home court.

Indiana Wesleyan students are currently on Spring Break, so the Grant County community is invited to come out and support the Wildcats in place of the student section!

CLICK HERE for box score