SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – No. 5-seed Indiana Wesleyan men's basketball made the trip up to No. 4-seed Spring Arbor on Tuesday night for the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals. The Wildcats forced three overtime periods and eventually came away victorious 96-95 over the Cougars to advance to the semifinal round. Luke Brown led the way with a career-high 43 points in 50 minutes, highlighted by nine three-pointers.

 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Spring Arbor, Mich. | McDonald Athletic Center
• Records: IWU: 21-8 | SAU: 19-10
• Tournament Seeding: IWU - #5 | SAU - #4

WHAT HAPPENED

• The Wildcats were down 69-72 with 23 seconds left in regulation. Luke Brown got a switch off a high-ball screen and drilled a three one the SAU big man to send the game to overtime.
• With 20 second left at the end of the first overtime, IWU was down 80-83. Luke Brown put up a contested three, and Issac Andrews hustled for the offensive rebound. He tossed it out to an open Griffin Kliewer who pump-faked, side-stepped, and knocked down a three to tie it again and force a second overtime.
• The drama continued in overtime #2. Indiana Wesleyan was down 85-87 with 12 seconds left. Luke Brown came up clutch again, this time rejecting a high-ball screen to attack the basket and convert a layup, resulting in another overtime.
• Defense headlined the story of the third overtime. Spring Arbor missed two three-point attempts in the final minute that would have given them the lead. Clutch free throws from Luke Brown and pivotal layups from Jake Smith pushed the Wildcats on the victory.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 43: Brown's 43 points are eight points shy of the program record of 51 set by Kyle Mangas on November 13, 2020.
• 20: The Wildcats held a 20-2 advantage in bench points.
• 11: IWU advances to the Crossroads League Tournament semifinals for the 11^th time in the last 12 seasons.
• 9: Brown connected on nine three-pointers, setting a new season-high for IWU and just two off the program-record by Caleb Dimmich (11).

KEY WILDCATS

• Luke Brown: 43 points, 9-16 3FG, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
• Griffin Kliewer: 19 points, 7-19 FG, 8 rebounds

NEXT TIME OUT

• The Wildcats travel to No. 1-seed Grace on Friday for the Crossroads League Tournament semifinals at 7:00 p.m.
• Links for video and stats are available at IWUWildcats.com.
• View the Tournament Central Page by clicking HERE.

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