UPLAND, Ind. -- It was quite the productive day at the office for No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan University men's basketball on Tuesday night at Odle Arena in Upland, Indiana.

Not only did Indiana Wesleyan beat Grant County rival No. 25 Taylor (Ind.) University 52-49 on their Senior Night, Indiana Wesleyan also clinched at least a share of the Crossroads League regular season championship and an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament. It is the fifth straight Crossroads League title for Indiana Wesleyan and the second straight senior class to win a title all four years.

All that came to fruition when junior guard Jordan Weidner picked off a pass from senior forward Nate Kasper to seal the Wildcat victory. Trojan senior guard Casey Coons had just launched a game-tying 3-point attempt with five seconds left that was off target. Kasper came down with the offensive rebound and was looking to pass it back to Coons as the clock was ticking down before Weidner corralled the pass attempt.

"Our focus is we have one more," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. "We have Senior Day Saturday and we want to honor these seniors. But this is a step in the right direction for us so we want to continue to play well."

Weidner's pick capped a strong effort by the junior in the second half. Following a five point first half, Weidner scored 11 in the second to finish with a game-high 16 points. He had 16 despite taking only six field goal attempts. Weidner was able to get into the paint and continually draw contact to get to the foul line. In all, Weidner was 8-of-9 from the stripe.

Taylor (19-10, 11-6 CL) took a 26-22 lead into halftime but Indiana Wesleyan limited TU to just 23 second half points. The main focus of the Indiana Wesleyan defense was on the stellar guard play of Taylor's Coons and senior guard Tommy Peller.

Coons and Peller are first and third on the team in scoring and have averaged a combined 30 points. The backcourt duo scored 13 points combined in the first half but was limited to one point on 0-of-12 shooting in the second period. Second leading scorer Nate Kasper was limited to only three second half points.

"Couldn't be more proud of our defense tonight," added Tonagel. "We got a great effort from one through nine. Every guy who stepped onto the floor did well for us tonight."

While the Wildcat defense clamped down on the Trojans, senior forward Taylor Schoen had one of his best games in a Wildcat uniform. Schoen came off the bench to provide 21 great minutes and score 11 points and grab seven rebounds. Each was one off from his career-highs.

"Love Taylor Schoen," beamed Tonagel. "I will take a Taylor Schoen any day and I'm going to be showing my kids film on him of how to play hard. That's what he does."

The Wildcats outscored the Trojans 38-19 in the paint and 20-6 in bench scoring. Besides Weidner and Schoen, Hopkins was the third Wildcat in double figures as he contributed a double-double with 10 points and a game-best 11 boards. IWU won the rebound battle 39-30.

Indiana Wesleyan returns to Luckey Arena for Senior Day on Saturday at 3 p.m. IWU hosts Goshen (Ind.) College in the regular season finale. A victory would secure the outright Crossroads League regular season championship.