FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- No. 11-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball is in a three-way tie atop the Crossroads League standings following a thrilling 81-80 victory on the road at No. 9-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Indiana Wesleyan, Saint Francis, and Huntington (Ind.) are now gridlocked in a first place tie with 9-3 records. Marian (Ind.) is just half a game back at 8-3 and Bethel (Ind.) is one game behind the pack with an 8-4 mark.

“This is as big as a win as we’ve had,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. “They beat us at our place earlier this season and then we get down 10 points and fight back. It says a lot about the heart of this team.”

The senior duo of RJ Mahurin and Jordan Weidner carried the Wildcats on Saturday with two outstanding efforts. Mahurin scored a game-high 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting and Weidner added 20 points and 9 assists.

Saint Francis (17-7) jumped out to a quick 10 point lead at 22-12 just seven minutes into the game. USF led by 10 points as late as 5:29 in the opening half until Indiana Wesleyan methodically chipped into the deficit. Over the final five and a half minutes of the period, Indiana Wesleyan outscored Saint Francis 15-7 to trail by 2 points at 41-39.

Indiana Wesleyan (19-5) did not gain their first lead of the afternoon until a Weidner basket with 13:24 on the clock put IWU ahead 50-49. Over the next 10 minutes there were 14 lead changes and three ties in the back-and-forth effort.

RJ Mahurin scored with 2:53 remaining to put the Wildcats in front one last time at 72-71. That was the final lead change of the day as IWU constantly fought to hold back the Cougars.

Weidner connected on a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to give IWU its largest lead of 80-75. USF’s Kegan Comer took the ball down the court and attacked the basket to cut the lead to 80-77. Weidner was fouled and hit 1-of-2 foul shot with 18 seconds to go for an 81-77 lead. Saint Francis raced down the court and missed a short shot which was cleaned up by Lane Mahurin to finish the victory. USF closed the scoring with a 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left.

It does not get any easier for Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday as IWU hosts No. 19-ranked Huntington at 7 p.m. in Luckey Arena. The winner of the game will remain in first place in the Crossroads League while the losing team falls off the pace. It will be ‘Black Out Night’ in Luckey so be sure to cheer on the Wildcats by wearing black to the game.