POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- Things looked bleak early as No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan University fell behind 15 points to No. 16-ranked Warner Pacific (Ore.) in the 2015 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship Second Round in Point Lookout, Missouri.

Warner Pacific jumped all over Indiana Wesleyan early en route to a 23-8 cushion. Indiana Wesleyan struggled during the opening 10 minutes with 10 turnovers against the aggressive Warner Pacific zone.

“I knew that wasn’t us,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel. “We executed during practice and we just panicked I think. They have a great zone. It’s unique and it’s not like anything we’ve seen and it just snowballed.”

But as shaky as the first 10 minutes were for the Wildcats, the next 10 minutes was a nearly complete turnaround. In three minutes time the Wildcats closed to within eight points at 25-17 on a DJ Bettinger (SR/Richfield, Ohio) trey.

Warner Pacific buoyed the IWU run and was able to push their advantage back up to 14 points at 33-19 with under five minutes to play. This time Indiana Wesleyan made a huge run to close out the half and trailed 39-34 with the last possession of the half.

“I knew we were going to fight,” said Tonagel. “And I knew we were going to make a run so I told them to just stay with it.”

With the final possession Jonny Marlin (JR/Greenwood, Ind.) attempted to drive the lane but was stopped. He found Jacob Johnson (FR/Mooresville, Ind.) at the top of the key and the freshman calmly sank the 3-pointer at the buzzer to close to within a single possession. The 3-pointer sent the Wildcat faithful into a mass celebration as IWU trailed just 39-37.

“The 3 before half was just an absolute dagger,” said Tonagel. “We carried all the momentum into halftime.”

The Wildcats carried that momentum into a quick start to the second half. Bettinger drilled 3-point buckets on back-to-back possessions and Zac Vandewater (SR/Warsaw, Ind.) followed with a 3 of his own to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 46-44 with 17:30 left on the clock.

The next seven minutes saw neither team gain a lead greater than four points and there were two ties and two lead changes. The last tie and lead change came on an old-fashion 3-point play by Vandewater for a 53-52 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

A 3-pointer by Marlin with 7 minutes left put Indiana Wesleyan ahead 62-57 and the lead never fell below five points the rest of the way. IWU led by as many as 11 points and a Warner Pacific 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the final score of 79-71.

“To weather that and come back speaks volumes of the character of this team,” stated Tonagel. “Especially our seniors.”

The 15 point deficit was the second largest of the season for Indiana Wesleyan as they trailed by 17 points to Saint Francis (Ind.) on January 31. Indiana Wesleyan went on to win both games.

The Wildcats dominated play on the boards and at the free throw line. IWU outrebounded WPU 34-23 and nearly doubled up on free throw attempts at 35-18.

“We were getting to the free throw line and we were dominating the boards,” said Tonagel. “When they lost this year they were -13 on the boards and -8 on the free throw line. So I knew if we stayed with those things that we would slowly crawl back into this thing.”

The two leading scorers in the game both came off the Indiana Wesleyan bench in Marlin and Johnson as each scored 17 points. Johnson had a double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds.

“How about Jacob Johnson,” exclaimed Tonagel. “He was an absolute dominant player today. He was attacking the rim, he was getting into lanes, and he was making 3’s. Jacob has grown up in this tournament in a big way.”

Indiana Wesleyan returns to the NAIA Elite Eight for the sixth time in program history. IWU will play the winner of No. 8-ranked Davenport (Mich.) and No. 9-ranked Briar Cliff (Iowa) at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.