MARION, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University and Goshen (Ind.) College entered the 2012 portion of the Mid-Central College Conference schedule tied atop the standings. Both teams knew this would be a big game at the beginning of the week but on Saturday it was a big game for both teams for completely different reasons.

In the only three-game week of the season, the Wildcats and Maple Leafs each lost on Tuesday and Thursday, setting up this critical contest between two teams desperately needing a win to stay near the top of the standings. Indiana Wesleyan earned that huge victory courtesy of an 85-78 score.

"When I talked to Coach Chupp before the game we said one of us has to win," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "It was a good quality win for us today."

Indiana Wesleyan was reeling with losses in six of its last eight games. IWU lost at home to Huntington (Ind.) University on Tuesday and then suffered a hard defeat at Spring Arbor (Mich.) University on Thursday. But IWU responded to salvage a difficult week of games.

"You have to give our kids credit," continued Tonagel. "I've been through this before as a player and sometimes you just don't want to play and there is a lot of negativity.  But these guys were hungry to play. They wanted to get that taste out of their mouth. I think they came out and played hard and performed well."

Indiana Wesleyan came out eager to play and put it to a tough Goshen team early. IWU stretched their advantage to a game-high 15 points three times during the opening half, the last coming at 43-28 on a pair of free throws by sophomore center Parker Stouffer as 1:40 remained in the stanza.

The Wildcats seemed destined to take a double digit lead into intermission until the Maple Leafs streaked back at the end of the half. The Leafs outscored the Wildcats 8-1 in the final 1:14 to cut the score to 44-36.

Goshen guard Kody Chandler opened the second half with a 3-pointer to trim the lead to five points. But over the next six minutes Indiana Wesleyan slowly built the lead back to 12 at 62-50.

Over the next nine minutes Goshen would tear down the advantage little by little until it was just four points at 78-74 and 3:45 remaining. With just over two minutes on the clock freshman guard Tyler Hall scored for GC to make it a single possession game at 78-76.

IWU junior guard George Jones IV answered the next time the Wildcats had the ball to push it back to a two possession game. But a pair of Goshen free throws at 1:28 cut the deficit back to 80-78. But once again Jones IV answered the bell for Indiana Wesleyan with a second straight driving layup for a four point cushion as 1:09 was on the scoreboard.

Indiana Wesleyan made a stop on the defensive end and Goshen fouled junior forward Patrick Hopkins. He hit one of his two free throws for an 83-78 advantage. The next Goshen possession turned into a turnover on a pass to the corner with nobody around. Sophomore guard Jordan Weidner was fouled and he iced the game with two free throws as Indiana Wesleyan held on for the much needed victory.

"You have to give (Goshen) credit," said Tonagel. "We had them down 15 and they fought back and made it a game. Our guys could have folded but they didn't."

Jones IV had another outstanding game for Indiana Wesleyan with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including one explosive dunk in the second half. Senior guard Derrick Troyer added 15 points and four assists while junior guard Aaron Martin had his best game of the week with 13 points and three 3-pointers. Hopkins was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"Troyer played a tough game. It's his senior year and he's really showing he's made the rounds," added Tonagel. "And it was big for Aaron today. It's great for his confidence and it opens things up for us. I give him credit because you have to shoot your way out of a slump and that's what he did. George was good on both ends of the court today. But the unsung hero in this game was DJ Bettinger. He made some hard shots for us and played really tough."

The freshman point guard scored five points and had no turnovers in 18 minutes off the bench.  

Both teams shot well from the field today as Indiana Wesleyan hit 50.9-percent (29 of 57) and Goshen answered at 49.2-percent (29 of 59).

Indiana Wesleyan will next play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 10 at No. 19-ranked Taylor (Ind.) University in Upland, Indiana.