MARION, Ind. -- No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball did enough to survive and advance in the Crossroads League Tournament Wednesday night in a 71-64 victory over No. 8-seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) in Luckey Arena.

The quarterfinal win has Indiana Wesleyan advance to the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals on Saturday. Indiana Wesleyan will host No. 5-seed Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) after they upset No. 4-seed Grace (Ind.) tonight.

Indiana Wesleyan did not trail in the opening half. Bob Peters (SO/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) hit a 3-pointer to close out the half and send IWU into halftime up 34-25.

The Indiana Wesleyan lead grew to 13 points when Peters hit a free throw for a 47-34 lead with exactly 14 minutes left to play. Spring Arbor responded with the next eight points to make it a single possession game at 47-44. The two teams traded buckets and the score was tied four times until a Thomas Starks free throw gave Spring Arbor their first lead of the night at 59-58 with 5:23 remaining.

Trailing 61-60, the Wildcats turned to Jacob Johnson (FR/Mooresville, Ind.) who scored down low for a 62-61 advantage with 3:35 on the clock. IWU did not surrender the lead again.

The next Cougar possession was a turnover and a foul put Peters to the line where he hit both shots. Following a defensive stop, DJ Bettinger (SR/Richfield, Ohio) drilled a 3-pointer with 2:20 to go for a 67-61 lead. The Cougars responded with a 3-pointer on the following possession. But SAU did not score in the final two minutes as IWU iced the game with four free throws down the stretch.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Spring Arbor,” IWU head coach Greg Tonagel said. “Coach Cottingham had his team ready to play. They were down 13 and they didn’t fold and they kept fighting. They played harder than us for many stretches of the game.”

Bettinger starred for Indiana Wesleyan with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-10 3-point shooting.

“We have always had different guys step up,” said Tonagel. “DJ came through tonight and he really covered for a lot of guys.”

Peters was the only other Wildcat in double figures as he ended the night with 15 points and 6 assists. Jonny Marlin (JR/Greenwood, Ind.) contributed nine points and three assists while Johnson added eight points.

Spring Arbor shot 52-percent (29 of 55) from the field and held a 34-28 advantage on the boards. Caleb Hogans led SAU with 16 points while Starks came off the bench for 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“Our defense has been up and down this year,” stated Tonagel. “Today it was down. We didn’t guard individually and we didn’t guard collectively. You have to be able to do both. We gave up a lot of layups today.”

Indiana Wesleyan and Mount Vernon Nazarene play Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals at Luckey Arena.