MARION, Ind. -- A back and forth first half gave way to a dominant second half performance for No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball as they defeated visiting Grace (Ind.) 85-80 on Tuesday night in Luckey Arena.

The opening half of play featured 3 ties and 12 lead changes as neither team led by more than 6 points in the half. IWU captured a 35-34 halftime lead when junior guard Jonny Marlin (JR/Greenwood, Ind.) scored in the paint as the first half buzzer sounded.

Indiana Wesleyan (10-0, 2-0 CL) scored the first six points of the second half to build a 41-34 advantage. A quick 6-0 spurt later in the half pushed the advantage to 54-44 for the first double digit lead of the evening.

Grace (9-2, 1-1 CL) cut the deficit to single digits when Dennis Williams scored down low for a 66-57 score with 7:41 remaining. Indiana Wesleyan responded with the next seven points to increase their advantage to 73-57. The lead eventually grew to a game-high 18 points at 77-59 when Bob Peters (SO/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) scored with 5:22 on the clock.

The Wildcats maintained an 82-67 lead with 2:10 left to play. The Lancers completed the game with a 13-2 run to close the gap for the 85-80 final score.

Four Wildcat scored in double figures and were led by Lane Mahurin (SO/Rockville, Ind.) with a double-double. The sophomore forward contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds. The 21 points is a new career-high for Mahurin and the 11 rebounds is the second most in his career.

Josh Mawhorr (JR/Muncie, Ind.) tied a season-high with 17 points as he shot 8-of-12 from the field. Marlin added 16 points and 4 assists while Bob Peters added 10 points and 3 assists. Zac Vandewater (SR/Warsaw, Ind.) contributed 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists while Jacob Johnson (FR/Mooresville, Ind.) and Nate Bubash each chipped in 6 points off the bench.

Indiana Wesleyan shot 54.1-percent (33 of 61) from the field and had 16 assists on 33 field goals made. IWU entered the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation but struggled tonight with a 3-for-15 performance (20.0-percent).

Grace was led by Dennis Williams with 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Logan Irwin added 16 points and 5 assists while Niko Read finished with 14 points. Grace shot 41.8-percent (28 of 67) from the floor and 25.0-percent (5 of 20) from beyond the arc.

Indiana Wesleyan has one more Crossroads League game remaining before they return to non-league games the rest of December. IWU travels to No. 9-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana.