Men's Basketball Recap: No. 10 IU East Defeats No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan
Men's Basketball Recap: No. 10 IU East Defeats No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan
RICHMOND, Ind. - Once again, David Sanders wound up with the ball in his hands at the final buzzer of an IU East-Indiana Wesleyan thriller.
This time, the final touch was a winning touch.
Sanders stole a desperation heave on the final play to seal the 10th-ranked Indiana University East men's basketball team's 79-76 win against top-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University on Dec. 7 at the Richmond High School Tiernan Center.
Junior guard Marcus Isaac (Indianapolis, Ind./Purdue University North Central) scored 23 points and made four free throws in the final 30 seconds as IU East (10-1) defeated a No. 1-ranked team for the first time in the program's NAIA history. The Red Wolves ran their program-best winning streak to 10 games.
Indiana Wesleyan fell to 9-1.
"Everyone believed," said Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Beech Grove High School), whose drive and layup with about 35 seconds remaining put IU East ahead to stay. "Everyone wanted this win, from the managers to the coaches to me, we all wanted it. A great team win."
The final play was a reversal of the final moment of the Red Wolves' 95-92 loss against Indiana Wesleyan in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament in Point Lookout, Mo.
Sanders' halfcourt heave rimmed out at the buzzer last March. This time, he put the finishing touch on one of IU East's biggest regular season wins.
"It's nice to be in the conversation (of the nation's top NAIA Division II teams)," said Red Wolves coach Mark Hester. "It's nice for the program and the school. It shows we are moving in the right direction.
"It's a university win. It shows when you put emphasis on something, you can accomplish great things."
The Red Wolves won because they put the emphasis on rebounding after the Wildcats dominated the boards in the early moments while building an 11-point lead.
Indiana Wesleyan had 14 second-chance points in the first half and just four in the second half.
"We challenged them (to rebound) at halftime," Hester said. "Plain and simple. There was nothing magical about it. We just challenged them, and they wanted to step up."
IU East closed the first half on a 7-0 run to reduce a double-digit IWU lead to four and build momentum heading into the final 20 minutes.
The Red Wolves pulled ahead - to stay, as it turned out - at 50-48 when sophomore guard Matt Trimnell (Seymour, Ind./Seymour High School) sank a 3-pointer from the left corner with about 14 minutes remaining.
A slam dunk by freshman forward Huston Clark (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo High School) on the next possession got the big Red Wolves crowd revved up and forced an Indiana Wesleyan timeout.
IU East would lead by seven with about six minutes to go, the but Wildcats rallied to tie it at 73 on Derrick Troyer's conventional three-point play with 42 seconds remaining.
Sanders immediately answered with his drive down the left side of the lane.
The lead grew to 77-73 on Isaac's two free throws following an IWU turnover. IU East would enjoy a 26-6 advantage in points off turnovers for the game.
Indiana Wesleyan would get within 77-76 with the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining, but had to settle for a heavily guarded miss in the lane as several bodies went flying.
Isaac made two more free throws to make it 79-76, and Sanders' steal of a full-court pass sealed the big win.
"What I'm happy about is this shows we are capable (of beating a top-ranked team)," Hester said. "Just because we won tonight doesn't mean we are better. It just means we won tonight.
"They beat us by three last year at nationals and we won by three tonight, so that's about as even as you can get."
Isaac's 23 points led IU East. Trimnell added 19.
George Jones IV had 15 points to lead five players in double figures for Indiana Wesleyan.
Click here for the IU East-Indiana Wesleyan box score