MARION, Ind. -- Forty minutes of basketball was not near enough for the packed out Luckey Arena crowd on Saturday afternoon so the Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball team played an extra 15 minutes against visiting Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) University.

When the smoke had settled the Wildcats came out victorious in a wild 90-85 triple overtime win to keep pace in the even more crazy Mid-Central College Conference standings. IWU remains tied for second in the MCC with University of Saint Francis (Ind.) and Marian (Ind.) University, and now trail Grace (Ind.) College by just a single game.

"That was my first triple overtime game and hopefully last one," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "It was crazy. Both teams had leads that you thought it was over then it would swing the other way. It ended up being a free throw contest. Even though we didn't make a ton we found a way to squeak it out."

There was plenty of drama in the game that featured plays that tied the score in the final five seconds during regulation and the first two overtimes.

Indiana Wesleyan (15-9, 7-5 MCC) gained a 64-62 lead with 32 seconds left in regulation when junior forward Patrick Hopkins scored off an inbounds play in the paint. But Mount Vernon Nazarene senior guard Robbie Taylor came up clutch for the first of two times today with the game-tying basket in the paint with 1.9 seconds remaining. IWU sophomore guard Jordan Weidner heaved a half-court shot at the buzzer that drew iron but did not go in to force overtime number one.

The Wildcats trailed by four points with less than two minutes to play in the first overtime but rallied late. After a Weidner bucket with 45 seconds left lifted IWU to a 74-73 lead, sophomore forward Matt Anglea collected an offensive rebound and put it back in to take a 75-74 lead for the Cougars with nine seconds remaining.

Indiana Wesleyan called timeout near half-court and on the ensuing inbounds pass Hopkins was fouled under the basket trying to coral the pass with five seconds on the clock. After missing the first free throw attempt, Hopkins drained the second to tie the score at 75-75 and send the game into a second OT.

Points were at a premium during the second overtime as each team would score just five points apiece. Senior guard Derrick Troyer, who earlier scored his 1,000th career point, flew through the air to earn an offensive board and a hard foul. He hit both free throws for an 80-78 IWU lead with 40 seconds left. IWU forced a bad shot with 10 seconds left but Mount Vernon Nazarene (9-15, 3-9 MCC) collected the offensive board. With 0.9 seconds remaining, Taylor drove to the basket and was fouled. Taylor calmly hit both shots to force a third overtime.

The Wildcats exploded for the overtime's first six points and quickly built an 86-80 lead with 3:55 to play. The Cougars scored the next four points to trail by two with 2:43 left. Each team knocked down one of two free throws on their next possession for an 87-85 IWU lead. The Wildcats held the ball as there was about 12 seconds difference on the shot clock and main clock. Troyer then drove into the paint and found a wide open Martin in the corner. He drilled the trey with 16 seconds to go as the Wildcats outlasted the Cougars by five.

"Scoring the first six points gave us a cushion but nobody felt comfortable," added Tonagel. "Then Aaron Martin hit the shot of the game. If he didn't hit that we probably go to a fourth overtime. That forced them to take a tough 3 rather than come down and shoot a layup which they had gotten to get into the first two overtimes."

Weidner scored a team-high 25 points and only got better the longer the game went on. He was held scoreless in the first half before adding 13 in the second half. Weidner then totaled 12 of the 26 points that Indiana Wesleyan scored in the three overtime periods. The sophomore logged a Wildcat-high 48 minutes in the game.

"We had more energy than we thought we had in us," said Weidner. "It wasn't like the game was slow pace and hold the ball, it was up and down, up and down. There wasn't much down time, we were constantly running."

Hopkins also had one of his best efforts of late with a double-double in 33 minutes on the floor. He finished with 22 points and a game-best 12 rebounds. Hopkins was also stellar from the free throw line, hitting 14-of-19. He fouled out in the opening minute of the second overtime.

"Fortunately we had lots of bench production," said Tonagel. "Zac Vandewater came in and did a great job and so did Parker Stouffer when Pat came out. We continued to have guys come in and make key plays and a lot of it is coming from our bench."

Indiana Wesleyan went six deep on the bench including four guys with 13 plus minutes of floor time. Freshman Zac Vandewater tied a career-high with 10 points in a career-best 24 minutes. Sophomore center Parker Stouffer played 14 key minutes off the bench and senior guard David Peters featured 24 minutes of valuable defense.

The teams combined for 82 free throw attempts on 58 fouls. Three Cougars fouled out while two Wildcats did as well. Although Indiana Wesleyan struggled from the line again, hitting 58.3-percent (28 of 48), they did hit some big free throws when it mattered most.

"It was a free throw shooting contest," added Tonagel. "That's what it turned into. But you have to adjust to the officials. (Mount Vernon Nazarene) certainly did because they were going to the rim at the end of the game forcing a call. I thought we settled a few times."

One excellent stat for both teams was the number of turnovers after the first half. The teams combined for 21 turnovers in the first 20 minutes but each team committed just five turnovers in the second half and three overtimes.

"Last year we were coined the ‘Cardiac Cats'," joked Tonagel. "But I think I need a health exam here. My emotions are on both ends of the spectrum coaching this team. They're fun to coach but can be a frustrating bunch sometimes."

Indiana Wesleyan has little time to recover from the 55 minute game as they travel to Huntington (Ind.) University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 31.