MARION, Ind. -- It was not always a pretty game on Tuesday but No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball led wire-to-wire in an 85-77 victory over visiting University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in Luckey Arena.

Indiana Wesleyan (19-2, 8-1 CL) scored on their second possession of the game when senior guard Aaron Martin drilled a 3-pointer. That lead would hold the rest of the night but Indiana Wesleyan missed opportunities to put away Saint Francis.

"I'm waiting for our team to learn to put teams away, especially at home," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "That's the next step for this team. If you want to be a great team then you need to be able to put teams away. We play in spurts and we're certainly capable of playing in extended spurts."

The Wildcats scored the first seven points which eventually led to a 20-10 advantage on a basket by sophomore guard Zac Vandewater. The 10 point cushion was the largest of the night as 8:35 was left in the first half.

Instead of putting the Cougars away the game quickly turned in favor of USF. The Cougars went on an 11-3 run to close the gap to two points. The Wildcats would increase their lead to eight points four times in the final five minutes of the half and IWU would take a 38-33 lead into halftime.

Less than two minutes into the second half sophomore guard DJ Bettinger connected from long range to give Indiana Wesleyan its second 10 point lead at 45-35. Once again Indiana Wesleyan was unable to stretch the lead as Saint Francis would methodically cut into the deficit and make it a one point game at 58-57 midway through the period.

As Indiana Wesleyan continued to hold onto their slim lead late into the game, Martin came up with a big 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining to give IWU a seven point lead at 73-66.

Saint Francis (13-8, 5-4 CL) scored on their next possession to close within five, but senior forward Patrick Hopkins hit one of two free throws on the next IWU possession and added a rebound basket on the next possession to put the game out of reach 76-68 with 54 seconds to play.

The Cougars continued to foul and the Wildcats drained 9-of-10 free throws over the final 35 seconds for the eight point victory. Junior guard Jordan Weidner hit 7-of-8 freebies in that time.

Weidner led Indiana Wesleyan with 23 points and hee was 6-of-12 from the field and 10-of-13 from the foul line. Hopkins' streak of seven straight double-doubles came to a close as he finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Senior guard George Jones IV came off the IWU bench for 14 points and five rebounds while Bettinger added 10 points. Martin chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists and Vandewater totaled eight points as six Wildcats scored eight or more points.

Saint Francis was led by junior forward Scott Kohne and sophomore guard Josh Hogan. Kohne tallied a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds while Hogan scored 25 points. Kohne was 8-of-12 from the floor and 10-of-15 from the free throw line.

Indiana Wesleyan remains home for their next game which will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Indiana Wesleyan plays Marian (Ind.) University for the first game of the second round of Crossroads League contests.