MARION, Ind. -- Senior forward Patrick Hopkins put together a half that left his head coach in awe as No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball edged Huntington (Ind.) University 61-58 tonight in Luckey Arena.

Trailing by six at halftime which saw the Wildcats score just 23 points, Hopkins went to work on both ends of the court and willed his team to the win. In the second half alone, Hopkins contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds.

"That was a man's half," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "That was a dominating performance. That was probably the best half from a basketball player that I coached at Indiana Wesleyan. He had 17 and 11 in the second half alone. I've seen guys go off in the first half but to do it the second half and not getting rest. He's a workhorse and he's got the ability. He just needs to stay the course. No one can stop him when he's just playing and that is what he did tonight."

The Kokomo native finished with a season-best 26 points and 16 rebounds. He was 8-of-15 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the foul line. The 10 free throws made was a season-high as well.

Hopkins also was a factor late with the game on the line. Indiana Wesleyan led 59-58 and had possession of the ball. There was a six second difference between the game clock and shot clock. As the shot clock winded down Hopkins received the ball in the middle of the paint. He went left to his off hand and scored with seven seconds to play as Indiana Wesleyan gained a 61-58 advantage.

"I saw an opening to the left," said Hopkins. "I know I can go to my left and it just opened up like the Red Sea."

Huntington (12-13, 3-10 CL) got the ball up to half court and called time out with 4.6 seconds remaining. HU put the ball in the hands of junior Shane Merryman who rarely missed tonight. Merryman -- who was 7-of-7 in the second half at that point -- launched a 3-pointer at the buzzer but the shot was off line as Hopkins grabbed the board to seal the win.

Indiana Wesleyan (22-3, 11-2 CL) fell behind early with six turnovers in the first five minutes of play. The sloppy play led to a 12-5 lead for Huntington. IWU would tie the game and even take the lead in the first half, but Huntington scored the final eight points of the half to take a 29-23 halftime lead.

The Wildcats stormed out of the break and went on a 22-7 run to begin the second half that led to a 45-36 advantage. The nine point cushion was the largest for either team all night. Keying the spurt was Hopkins with seven points and sophomore guard DJ Bettinger with a pair of long range 3-pointers. Bettinger finished one point shy of a career-high with 13 points in addition to four assists.

The nine point lead was trimmed by the Foresters to as low as one point on two occasions. But each time the Foresters got within one Hopkins answered with a field goal to push the lead up to three.

"It was two different halves but I thought we really fought and that's what I'm proud about," said Tonagel. "Those guys got into the locker room and made some adjustments and went out and fought."

"There's not a lot of givens in basketball but I will say every game is not going to be easy for us," continued Tonagel. "We just find ways not to make it easy. Part of it is the inconsistency. Offensively we were pretty bad tonight especially early in the first half. Second half I thought we came out and finally played with some fire. We started to move the basketball."

The victory was No. 200 in the coaching career for Tonagel. In just his eighth season, Tonagel is 200-65 (.754) and already ranks as the winningest coach in program history.

"I have to thank the staff, the players, and the university for providing great support," said Tonagel about his achievement. "It's an unbelievable place. It's not about the numbers but the lives that are being changed. I really like this group we have and what's going on with them."

Indiana Wesleyan will take to the road this weekend with a game at Spring Arbor (Mich.) University at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Spring Arbor won the earlier contest in Luckey Arena with a 58-48 decision on January 5.