MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball handed No. 21 Bethel (Ind.) College their first Crossroads League loss and first loss at home this season with an 81-65 score on Saturday afternoon. The victory for IWU moves them into a first place tie with Bethel at 7-1 in league play.

The Wildcats earned the win with a stout defensive effort against the high scoring Pilots. BC is eighth in NAIA Division II with 85.2 points per game and they also ranked in the top-five in Field Goal Percentage (50.3-percent) and 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (41.3-percent). The Pilots were held to 20 points under their season average while shooting 34.9-percent (22 of 63) from the field.

Indiana Wesleyan (17-2, 7-1 CL) had Bethel on the ropes late in the first half with a 38-26 lead and less than two minutes remaining. But Bethel stormed back with the final seven points of the period as Indiana Wesleyan took a 38-33 halftime lead.

Bethel (16-3, 7-1 CL) hit their first seven shots of the second half which eventually translated into a 51-50 lead for the Pilots. But from that point on Indiana Wesleyan exploded for a 27-9 run that put Bethel away 77-60 with two minutes remaining.

Five Wildcats scored nine or more points to account for 71 of the team's 81 points. Junior guard Jordan Weidner led the team with 18 points while senior forward Patrick Hopkins tallied his seventh straight double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. Senior guard George Jones IV scored a season-high 16 points while sophomore guard DJ Bettinger added 11 and sophomore guard Zac Vandewater finished with nine.

Overall, Indiana Wesleyan shot 52.5-percent (31 of 59) from the floor and 35.0-percent (7 of 20) from 3-point range. Indiana Wesleyan won the battle of the boards with a 45-32 rebound advantage.

Bethel leading scorer senior forward Jordan Bowerman was held to almost half of his season average of 14.1 points. Bowerman tallied eight points for the Pilots.

Indiana Wesleyan returns home for their next game which will be on Tuesday, January 15 in Luckey Arena. IWU hosts University of Saint Francis (Ind.) with a special start time of 5 p.m.