MARION, Ind. -- No. 14-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball seemed to be in position to ride out the final five minutes of play and capture an important Mid-Central College Conference home win over Bethel (Ind.) College on Saturday afternoon in Luckey Arena.

 But everything fell apart as Bethel rallied off a 17-5 run to close the game and escape Marion with an improbable 83-80 victory.

Leading up to the final five minutes, the Wildcats had taken control of the game with a 17-6 run. That stretch flipped a 60-58 Pilot lead into a 75-66 cushion for the Wildcats with just over five minutes remaining.

"A nine point lead at home with five minutes left is almost impossible to lose if you don't turn it over," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "But we gave them possessions."

During the last Bethel run Indiana Wesleyan turned the ball over five times, including two in the final 20 seconds of play. The first one came with Indiana Wesleyan leading by one (80-79) and sophomore guard Jordan Weidner attempted a pass under the Bethel basket that Landon Booker picked off. That turnover led to a 3-pointer by Matt Schauss for an 82-80 Bethel lead and just 11 seconds to play.

"We wanted to bring the ball up without them setting their defense," continued Tonagel. "Once we broke free I thought we would have numbers. But we slowed up for some reason and I'm not sure why we did that.  We wanted to get to the basket and the free throw line but unfortunately that didn't happen."

On the ensuing possession Indiana Wesleyan quickly raced down the floor. Freshman guard DJ Bettinger turned the ball over as Schauss picked his pocket. Schauss was quickly fouled with 2.9 seconds remaining and had a chance to ice the game. He missed the first free throw and made the second for the 83-80 advantage.

Indiana Wesleyan got the ball past midcourt and called timeout with 1.2 seconds remaining. The final play saw Troyer inbound the ball to the far end of the court for Weidner. The sophomore had a good look at the basket but drew only iron as Bethel stole the victory.

"We have to attack the basket and get to the free throw line in those situations," Tonagel said about finishing off games. "We failed to do that. "

It was a frantic finish to a game that featured eight ties and 15 lead changes. Neither team held a double digit lead and a majority of the game was played within a five point margin.

Weidner led the Wildcats with 17 points, 14 coming in the first half, along with three assists. Senior guard Derrick Troyer added 15 points and four assists, sophomore center Parker Stouffer contributed 12 points and six boards off the bench, and junior guard George Jones IV finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Indiana Wesleyan shot 49.1-percent (27 of 55) from the floor and just 55.9-percent (19 of 34) from the free throw line. Bethel mirrored Indiana Wesleyan as the Pilots hit 51.7-percent (30 of 58) from the floor and just 56.0-percent (14 of 25) from the charity stripe.

Bethel was led by Booker with a game-high 24 points and seven assists. Scahuss and Zach Miller each added 16.

Indiana Wesleyan hits the road next week with a pair of game away from Luckey Arena. The first comes at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17 at No. 18-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.).