MARION, Ind. – In the first game of the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Classic, Canaan Coffey buried 8-of-11 from 3-point range in an 83-57 victory over Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). The junior tied a career-high with 24 points on the evening the 2018 national championship team received their rings.

COFFEY FROM DEEP!

Canaan Coffey hit on 8-of-11 3-pointers to tie a career-high with 24 points. He did most of his damage in the opening half with 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. In the last 15 years, only one Wildcat has made more than eight 3’s and that was Bob Peters with nine vs. Governors State (Ill.) in December 2015.

DEEP BENCH

All 13 Wildcats played and 10 different players found the scoring column. The IWU bench held a 35-15 scoring advantage. Ten Wildcats played 12 or more minutes.

CELEBRATING ANOTHER NATIONAL TITLE

In a pregame ceremony, Indiana Wesleyan received their 2018 NAIA National Championship rings. Ben Carlson and Jacob Johnson – seniors on last year’s squad – were in Marion to join the celebration.

TONAGEL’S THOUGHTS

“We saw contributions from a lot of different guys tonight. This was a huge game for Sam McCracken to step in because we had foul trouble and had to count on him. He came in and contributed right away. Jonathan Mpanzu came in and gave us minutes by just working hard. You have to have a deep bench when you want to play in the Crossroads League. Part of these early season games are opportunities to develop that bench.”

NEXT FOR THE WILDCATS

Indiana Wesleyan concludes the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Classic vs. Michigan-Dearborn at 1 p.m. on Saturday.