MARION, Ind. -- Spring Arbor (Mich.) University stifled No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball on Saturday in Luckey Arena as Indiana Wesleyan loses its first Crossroads League game of the season.

Indiana Wesleyan (15-2, 4-1 CL) lost 58-48 as they shot just 31.3-percent (15 of 48) from the field and18.8-percent (3 of 16) from 3-point range. IWU entered play on Saturday as the second rank team in NAIA Division II in 3-point percentage at 42.4-percent.

Senior forward Patrick Hopkins and junior guard Jordan Weidner combined for nearly half the Wildcat points with 23. Weidner led the team with 13 points but shot 2-of-9 from the field while Hopkins added 10 points as he hit just 2-of-10. Hopkins did pull down 14 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.

Indiana Wesleyan held the biggest lead of the first half when Weidner hit a 3-pointer for an early 7-2 lead. But an 8-0 Spring Arbor run quickly put them ahead by three. It would remain a single possession game until Weidner hit two free throws with 4:58 left in the half for a 22-18 advantage. IWU entered intermission up 24-22 as the first half featured five ties and nine lead changes.

The Wildcats led 28-27 three minutes into the second half until a 9-1 Cougar spurt put SAU up 36-29. The seven point lead was the largest of the game at that point as 13:49 remained.

Spring Arbor (11-6, 1-4 CL) would not relinquish the advantage the rest of the contest but were unable to put Indiana Wesleyan away until late. Two Weidner free throws brought the deficit to four for Indiana Wesleyan with 5:12 left but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the afternoon.

Three different times Spring Arbor moved their lead to eight points, including a 53-45 lead with 1:44 to go. Weidner hit one free throw but missed the second and senior forward Taylor Schoen pulled down the offensive board. His pass to Hopkins led to a foul and two free throws made as IWU cut the score to 53-48 and 1:23 left.

But Spring Arbor continued to knock down free throws to keep Indiana Wesleyan at bay. SAU connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to stun No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan.

Despite the poor offensive performance, Indiana Wesleyan still had a solid defensive effort. Spring Arbor was limited to 37.3-percent (22 of 59) shooting and 33.3-percent (5 of 15) from beyond the arc. Spring Arbor would get enough offense though from three players who combined for 47 points. Rob Hogans scored a game-high 21 while Matt Howe added 14 points and Chris Bellamy tallied 12. A fourth player, Matt Van Pelt, chipped in nine points as all but two points came from four players.

Indiana Wesleyan will look to rebound from its first league loss on Tuesday as they travel to Goshen (Ind.) College for a 7 p.m. tip-off.