HONOLULU, Hawaii -- A wild trip to Hawaii before their first game even started only intensified today for No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball. Indiana Wesleyan earned an impressive 70-65 victory over NAIA DI No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University at the Hoop N' Surf Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Over half of the team came down with the flu as the team traveled to Hawaii over the weekend. Some were hospitalized and others in a sick bay unit to combat the flu and dehydration. Most of the members of the coaching staff were also hit hard by the flu.

But the Wildcats and Pioneers engaged in a great battle of highly ranked teams on Monday with IWU reclaiming the last lead change in the final minute. The lead for either team was five or fewer points over the final 11 minutes of the game.

"This is one of our biggest wins," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "With all we've been through our guys put up a fight today. We went down and things weren't going our way. But we played tough and got a win after everything that has happened to us on this trip."

Indiana Wesleyan (12-1) struggled all game at the free throw line as well. IWU hit just three of their first 12 from the foul line and it looked to be the undoing of the Wildcats on Monday. But after a dismal game at the line, senior guard George Jones IV and junior guard Jordan Weidner came up big when it mattered most. Jones IV hit two critical free throws with 26 seconds remaining to push a one point advantage to three while Weidner hit both his free throws with seven seconds remaining to make it a five point cushion.

"They hit some big shots," said Tonagel of Jones IV and Weidner. "I'm proud of those guys to be able to hit those shots at the end of the game. It was hot and humid here today but they had enough to hit those shots for us."

Weidner also hit key shots from deep in the early going of the contest. He drilled a 3-pointer 3:11 into the game that gave Indiana Wesleyan the lead for the next 29 minutes. Weidner hit two more 3's in the next minute and a half as Indiana Wesleyan hit four of them as a team before four minutes had passed. Weidner finished with 19 points and five assists.

Senior forward Patrick Hopkins scored in the paint with four minutes left in the first half to give Indiana Wesleyan its largest lead of the game, 30-20. MidAmerica Nazarene cut the lead to four points twice before halftime, including on a shot with less than 10 seconds left in the period. But Hopkins took a long pass off the inbounds and scored before the buzzer for a 36-30 IWU halftime advantage.

In the second half, Indiana Wesleyan built leads of eight or more points multiple times, only to see MidAmerica Nazarene cut the deficit to a single possession. The final of those came with a 12-1 run that put MidAmerica Nazarene in the lead at 54-51 and 8:29 remaining. It was their first lead since 5-3.

The Pioneer lead grew to four at 64-60 with 3:16 left to play. Baskets by Hopkins and Jones IV plus two defensive stops brought the game to a 64-64 tie with 1:34 remaining. The Pioneers went up one with a free throw on their next possession but Weidner scored on a layup with 1:00 to go for the 66-65 advantage. Jones IV gained the rebound on a missed Pioneer shot with 31 seconds to go and hit both free throws for the 68-65 lead and a Pioneer turnover with eight seconds remaining led to the two free throws by Weidner to ice the victory.

Hopkins led all players with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He also had six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Sophomore guard Zac Vandewater added 11 points while Jones IV and senior guard Aaron Martin each contributed eight points. In eight minutes off the bench, junior center Parker Stouffer had seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

MidAmerica Nazarene (10-3) entered the day in the NAIA DI top-10 in some key team statistical categories. They were No. 1 in Assists per Game at 22.2 but were held to just 12 assists, No. 2 in Assist/Turnover Ratio at 1.49 but finished with 12 assists to 19 turnover ratio, No. 2 in Field Goal Percentage at 53.6-percent but shot only 46.3-percent, and were No. 9 in Field Goal Defense at 38.3-percent but Indiana Wesleyan shot at a 50.9-percent rate today.

"This is a high scoring offense and we held them to nearly 20 points under their season average," added Tonagel. "Our defense just continues to improve this season."

Indiana Wesleyan will play one more game in Honolulu and it will be against another NAIA DI program out of Kansas. IWU tips-off with Ottawa (Kan.) University at 9 a.m. HT/2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.