Hot Shooting Men’s Basketball Survives Cincinnati Christian

CINCINNATI, Ohio. – Ben Carlson put Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball on top with a bucket and a foul with 27.9 seconds left to help the Wildcats to a 94-91 win at Cincinnati Christian (Ohio). IWU was led by Kyle Manags with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field.
GAME VITALS
Score: Indiana Wesleyan def. Cincinnati Christian, 94-91
Records: Indiana Wesleyan 11-2 | Cincinnati Christian 6-6
NAIA Top- 25 Rank: Indiana Wesleyan – No. 4 | Cincinnati Christian – Not ranked
Location: Jill Rendel Court | Cincinnati Christian University | Cincinnati, Ohio
STAT TRACKER
Kyle Mangas: 24 points, 11-18 FG, 6 rebounds
Evan Maxwell: 18 points, 7-8 FG, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Ben Carlson: 12 points, 5 assists
Joel Okafor: 11 points, 4-5 FG, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Canaan Coffey: 13 points, 3-5 3FG
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Cincinnati Christian made their first six field goals to jump out to an early 15-11 advantage.
Ben Carlson converted a three-point play with 27.9 seconds left to give IWU the 92-91 lead. A CCU turnover on the next possession led to a quick bucket for Kyle Mangas and give Indiana Wesleyan the 94-91 win.
Both teams shot extremely well in the contest with Indiana Wesleyan shooting 67.9-percent (38 of 56) from the field and Cincinnati Christian at 54.5-percent (30 of 55). IWU fell just short of the program’s single-game record of 71.4-percent (45 of 63) set in 1995.
There were 15 lead changes and 12 ties in the game with neither team leading by more than 8 points.
IWU tied a season-high with 19 turnovers.
COACH TONAGEL SAYS…
On the defensive effort…
“We need to find a way to be tougher and to find a way to be more dependable on defense and rebounding. We have the potential to be a good defensive team. I like our pieces individually but we haven’t learned to guard collectively yet.”
On the offensive effort…
“We can score it. I couldn’t believe it at halftime when I looked at the box score and we shot 71-percent but were only up one point on the road.”
NEXT TIME OUT
Indiana Wesleyan is off for more than a week before a couple of games in Daytona, Florida. Indiana Wesleyan faces Doane (Neb.) at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 18 and Our Lady of the Lakes (Texas) at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 19.