MARION, Ind. -- Jonny Marlin (JR/Greenwood, Ind.) hit a pull-up jumper with 1.3 seconds left to lift No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball to a 76-75 victory over No. 13-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday afternoon in Luckey Arena.

The Marlin basket capped a wild second half that saw Indiana Wesleyan overcome a 17 point deficit and a 9 point deficit with 3 minutes remaining. Indiana Wesleyan celebrated the epic comeback victory as Luckey Arena roared in appreciation.

“It felt good once it left my hand,” said Marlin. “But it’s one of those things where you have to see it go through the hoop before you can celebrate.”

Saint Francis (18-6, 8-4 CL) shot a blistering 72.0-percent (18 of 25) in the opening half to head into the locker room up 47-34, the largest deficit of the season for Indiana Wesleyan. Saint Francis increased their lead to a game-high 17 points when Bryce Lienhoop scored down low for a 55-38 lead and 15:23 left on the clock.

“We were soft, not aggressive, not proactive, and the ball went into the post whenever they wanted,” Tonagel said about the deficit. “I told them we could get beat by 40 or try and make it a game. And I thought in the second half we at least countered with some physicality.”

Indiana Wesleyan (22-2, 10-2 CL) made their first run of the second half after the Lienhoop bucket. IWU scored 10 of the next 12 points to cut the deficit to single digits at 57-48.

Trailing 61-50, Indiana Wesleyan made Luckey extremely loud with a Jacob Johnson (FR/Mooresville, Ind.) 3-pointer and 3-point play by Bob Peters (SO/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) for a 61-56 score. After Saint Francis hit on one free throw, Zac Vandewater (SR/Warsaw, Ind.) drilled a 3-pointer to make it a one possession game at 62-59 with 8:08 remaining. The teams traded 3-pointers as USF led 65-62 with 6:56 to go.

The Cougars seemed to have put the game away for a second time with an 8-2 run to lead 73-64 and only 3:38 left in the game.

Indiana Wesleyan turned up the defensive pressure and a Nate Bubash basket off a Saint Francis turnover made it a 75-72 score with 1:08 left. Bob Peters forced a turnover on the ensuing Saint Francis possession and he was fouled with 43 seconds to play. He hit both to make it a 75-74 score.

After a Saint Francis timeout Johnson forced a turnover. He raced down the court and missed a contested layup and Vandewater pulled down the rebound and his shot missed as well. There was a tie-up and a jump ball was called, with possession belonging to Indiana Wesleyan as 17.3 seconds read on the clock.

Lane Mahurin (SO/Rockville, Ind.) drove to the basket and was fouled with 6.9 seconds left. Mahurin, a 78-percent free throw shooter, had a chance to tie or give IWU the lead. But he missed both free throws. Mahurin was able to track his second miss and forced two Saint Francis players to knock the ball out of bounds to give Indiana Wesleyan one more chance with 5.6 seconds left, leading to the Marlin basket with 1.3 seconds left.

“There is some luck involved there and there are some guts involved there,” said Tonagel. “But one thing we didn’t do is give up. Obviously they came out and punched us really hard and we got back on our heels and didn’t play very well. But we kept fighting and scrapping away. We didn’t quit and Jonny made quite a shot.”

Tonagel credits Nate Bubash and the loud Indiana Wesleyan crowd for the comeback victory.

“I don’t think our defensive intensity was anywhere near where it should be until Nate Bubash came into the game in the second half,” stated Tonagel “I thought he was physical and just ignited us. And our crowd was awesome. We are very thankful for the fans and the students that show up. They are a big part of this. We can’t thank them enough.”

The win keeps Indiana Wesleyan all alone atop the Crossroads League standings. IWU is 20-2 on the season and 10-2 in league play. Bethel is one game back and Saint Francis drops to third place at 18-6 overall and 8-4 in league action.

“It was fun,” concluded Tonagel. “We have been on both ends. Hopefully we will learn from it.”