MARION, Ind. - No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan Men's basketball will continue their play in the NAIA National Championship after defeating Columbia College with a final score of 105-99. Javan Buchanan was the top performer for the Wildcats with 30 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. He surpassed his 1,000th career point in tonight's victory.
- Location: Marion, Indiana | Luckey Arena
- Records: IWU: 27-5 | CC: 24-7
- NAIA Top-25 Rankings: IWU - #6 (2 Seed) | CC - Unranked (15 Seed)
- The Wildcats began the first 10 minutes of the first half with a six-point lead before Columbia came back to tie the game 24-24 with six minutes to go.
- IWU and CC completed the first half going back and forth, tying three times within the last three minutes to go even into the second half at 33-33.
- A close second half ensued after two lead changes in the first three minutes before IWU found and maintained a six-point lead with ten minutes to go.
- After a Caedmon Bontrager and-one went down with two minutes to go, Columbia scored back-to-back layups to send the game to overtime at 79-79.
- A deadlock in the overtime led to double overtime, where the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run and ultimately defeated Columbia College with a final score of 105-99.
- 1000: Javan Buchanan surpassed his 1,000th career point.
- 7: This nail-biter round of 64 had seven lead changes on the day in the double overtime meeting.
- 15: IWU and CC each recorded 15 assists on the day.
- 32: The Wildcats scored 32 bench points compared to Columbia's nine.
- The Wildcats will face the University of Tennessee Southern tomorrow at 5:00 PM in the Round of 32.
- Links for tickets, video, and stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.
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