MARION, Ind. -- Luckey Arena witnessed a wild and fun filled contest Thursday night as the No. 12-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball team outlasted No. 24-ranked Huntington (Ind.) University 99-98 in Mid-Central College Conference action.

Wildcat senior forward Will Hubertz hit the front of a one-and-one free throw to break a 98-98 tie with just 1.9 seconds remaining. Hubertz purposely missed the second free throw and Huntington's junior forward Caleb Kennedy corralled the rebound as the Forester's called a timeout with 1.5 seconds to play. Senior guard Tyler Shively launched a 35-foot prayer that landed well short as the Wildcats escaped.

"This was the type of game when the last shot was going to get the win," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "We couldn't get a stop in the last 10 minutes of the game until the final seconds. Give credit to Will (Hubertz) for the pressure free throw."

The game was a high-octane back and forth contest all night long with 10 ties and eight lead changes. But IWU held double digit leads multiple times and led a majority of the evening until the final five minutes of the night.

Indiana Wesleyan (15-3, 4-0 MCC) opened up the first large lead of the night with a 10-0 run to capture a 22-12 advantage in the first five minutes and 40 seconds of the game. But Huntington quickly answered with a 15-5 spurt to knot the score at 27-27.

Huntington (13-4, 2-2 MCC) continued to press Indiana Wesleyan and extended their total run to 25-11 as HU earned their largest lead of the night at 37-33 with five minutes left before the half. But from that point, IWU roared back with a 21-8 run over the final five minutes to race into half with a 54-45 advantage.

The Wildcats completed the opening half with four players already in double figures, led by Hubertz with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep. Sophomore forward Patrick Hopkins and junior guard Derrick Troyer had 12 and freshman guard Jordan Weidner added 11.

Huntington started the second half with the advantage and sliced the deficit to four at 60-56. Indiana Wesleyan then fought off Huntington and scored the next six points to increase the lead back to 10 (66-56).

With 12:25 left in the game, sophomore guard Aaron Martin drilled his only 3-pointer of the night to give IWU its largest lead during the second half at 76-65. But two minutes later HU had cut the score to five at 76-71 near the midway point of the period.

The Wildcat lead remained between four and eight points until Shively finished an old fashion 3-point play with 3:37 remaining for an 88-85 score. Hopkins quickly scored for Indiana Wesleyan but the Foresters scored the next six points of the game to take their first lead (91-90) since a 37-36 advantage with 4:49 in the first half.

Weidner hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 91-91 before senior guard Kellen Zawadzki connected from deep for a 94-91 Huntington lead with 1:47 on the clock. But once again Hopkins tied the game on the next possession with a basket and a foul for the eighth tie of the night at 94-94.

Huntington senior forward Alex Nofziger scored on the next possession but for the third straight time Indiana Wesleyan tied the score with a driving bucket by Troyer for a 96-96 ballgame.

Kennedy gave the Foresters their final lead of the night with a bucket in the paint with 18 seconds left but Hopkins would hit a game-tying shot for the third time in the closing minutes at 98-98 with nine seconds to play.

Huntington raced down the court and Shively missed a 3-pointer but Kennedy grabbed the offensive rebound and missed right under the basket. Hubertz grabbed the rebound and was fouled 80 feet from the bucket to set up the game-winning free throw with 1.9 seconds to play.

The victory extends the win streak to 12 wins in a row which is the second longest in program history. The 2009-10 squad won 14 straight.

"These guys continue to surprise," Tonagel said. "When we won 14 in a row last year our guys were playing the best they possibly could. This team has room to improve and has not hit their peak. But we're going to push them to reach their best."

The offense was dynamic once again as Indiana Wesleyan finished shooting 58.1-percent (36 of 62) from the field and 47.1-percent (8 of 17) from 3-point range. IWU dished out 18 assists to just 11 turnovers.

Added Tonagel, "We have been good offensively all year but there is still a lot to work on with the defense. Tonight was rebounding. We gave up too many offensive rebounds tonight and it could have cost us."

Huntington won the battle on the boards with a 39-32 advantage, including 15 on the offensive end to combat hot-hitting Indiana Wesleyan. Huntington finished at 49.3-percent (36 of 73) shooting on the evening but just 69.2-percent (18 of 26) from the foul line.

Hopkins scored a career-high 28 points in the IWU win on 9-of-14 shooting. He was a stellar 10-of-12 from the foul line and also cashed in his eighth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Hubertz added 23 points and six boards, Troyer finished with 19 points and five assists while Weidner added 15 points.

Zawadzki led all players with 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting and Shively complimented him with 20 points. Kennedy finished with an impressive 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Indiana Wesleyan returns to action in just two days as IWU hosts Spring Arbor (Mich.) University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 8 in Luckey Arena.