FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- No. 11-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball captured first place tonight in a yet another thriller, outlasting the defending national champions and No. 5-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) 100-96 in double overtime.

The Wildcats move all alone into first place in the Mid-Central College Conference with the key road victory and stand at 6-0 in the conference. Five of those wins have come by six points or less while tonight's game featured 14 ties and 19 lead changes.

"It was big to get a road win here tonight but we still have a long way to go," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "I didn't expect us to be 6-0 in the MCC so we are in a good position right now."

Indiana Wesleyan (17-3, 6-0 MCC) had chances to win in regulation and in the first overtime with the final shot. Junior guard Derrick Troyer and freshman guard Jordan Weidner each drove into the lane for the winning shot but were just off the mark as Saint Francis was able to force the next session.

The second overtime opened up with the scored tied 89-89. Weidner would score first for Indiana Wesleyan on the team's second possession and IWU would never trail in the period.

Neither team scored much in the opening four minutes of the overtime period. But a George Jones IV basket for the Wildcats opened up a 95-93 advantage with 44 seconds left. Jones IV then forced a turnover which would result in two made free throws for Troyer as the Wildcats built a 97-93 lead with 20 seconds left on the clock.

USF (16-4, 5-1 MCC) senior forward DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis, Saint Francis' leading scorer and a top-20 scorer in NAIA DII at over 20 points a game, scored with 15 seconds to go to bring it to within 97-95. Sawyer-Davis was held to just 10 points on the night.

Weidner was fouled and hit one of two free throws for a 98-95 lead. Indiana Wesleyan purposely fouled junior guard Qadr Owens with 2.4 seconds on the clock. Owens knocked down the first shot and missed on purpose on the second shot to try and get a tip-in basket for the tie. But there was a lane violation by Saint Francis to negate the attempt. USF fouled Troyer who promptly hit both free throws to ice the victory at 100-96.

"We just continue to play close games this year," added Tonagel. "But the emphasis is that we just keep winning them. "

The victory is the 14th straight for the Wildcats, which ties the program record set by the 2009-10 team. That team's streak came to a stop at Saint Francis in overtime.

"These are young guys with heart who want to get better in practice every day," continued Tonagel. "And I love these seniors and what they're doing. Will (Hubertz) knows what (the coaches) want and relays it to the guys. We're still going to get better as a team."

Indiana Wesleyan at one point in the second half trailed by eight points when Saint Francis took a 53-45 advantage with 15 minutes to play in regulation. But IWU stormed back with a 16-0 run to turn an eight point deficit into an eight point advantage at 61-53. Also, Indiana Wesleyan scored the first eight points in the first overtime but quickly lost the lead and Saint Francis forced the second overtime.

Tonagel said, "An eight point lead with this team in not very comfortable. But when we are down eight we are still fine as this team will just continue to fight."

Depth and contributions from many players continues to give Indiana Wesleyan advantages during the 14 game win streak. Five players scored in double figures on Tuesday.

"We have lots of scoring and versatility. Every night we have someone else stepping up. Pat (Hopkins) has been big for us all year and usually a guard steps up every night and makes some big plays for us."

Tonight that player was Jones IV with a career-high 20 points. He finished 9-of-11 from the field.

Hopkins just missed another double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds while Hubertz earned his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Hubertz was 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Troyer contributed 18 points and was 8-of-8 from the foul line while Weidner added 17 points.

"Our guys have to bring it every day. This is one of our deepest teams since I've been here and we're getting contributions from so many."

Indiana Wesleyan shot 52.2-percent (36 of 69) from the floor and 42.9-percent (9 of 21) from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats will return to Luckey Arena for their next game on Saturday, January 15 versus Marian (Ind.) University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.

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