No. 2 Indiana East beats No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan in NAIA DII Men's Basketball matchup
No. 2 Indiana East beats No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan in NAIA DII Men's Basketball matchup
By IU East Sports Information
MARION, Ind. (BOX SCORE) -- "Who's Number One?" Nate Niehoff yelled to the IU East fans who made the trip to Indiana Wesleyan University for the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in the Red Wolf men's basketball season opener. On this night, the answer was IU East.
The Indiana University East men's basketball team knocked off Indiana Wesleyan 85-84 on Oct. 30 in a matchup of the top two teams in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Preseason Poll.
UPDATING THE RECORDS
NAIA Division II No. 2 IU East is 1-0. No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan, the reigning NAIA Division II national champion, is 3-1.
KEY MOMENTS
* Nate Niehoff made two free throws with 35 seconds remaining to break the game's sixth and final tie and put IU East ahead 83-81.
* The Red Wolf defense forced a miss, and Aaron Thomas scored on a breakaway to make it 85-81 with 10 seconds remaining.
* The teams traded turnovers, and Indiana Wesleyan made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final points of the game.
* IU East scored on five consecutive possessions late in the first half to take a 49-37 lead at the break.
* The Red Wolves answered a big Indiana Wesleyan push midway through the second half with 10 unanswered points of their own to take a 78-68 lead into the final minutes.
TRENDING
* Nate Niehoff scored a career-high 22 points.
* Aaron Thomas recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
* IU East won on Indiana Wesleyan's home court for the first time since joining the NAIA.
* IU East is now 2-2 against No. 1-ranked teams. The Red Wolves' other win against a No. 1-ranked team also was against Indiana Wesleyan, in December 2011.
* IU East outrebounded Indiana Wesleyan by a 36-33 margin. The Wildcats had dominated the rebounding in the two IU East-Indiana Wesleyan matchups last season, including IWU's win in the national tournament semifinals.
* Kyle Mangas, an first-team NAIA All-American last season, scored 25 points for Indiana Wesleyan.
QUOTABLE
"I tried to look at it as, 'It's just two free throws. That's all it is.' You hear the fans, but you've got to block it out and knock them down." - Nate Niehoff on the go-ahead free throws
"Ever since my freshman year I've been a constant rebounder, and I wanted to continue to do that into tonight. I knew they had a lot of height down low, and I knew we needed some rebounding, especially from me.
"The biggest run for us was after we lost our big lead. Then we went on a run, and that was the biggest run for us because that let us know we were still in the game." - Aaron Thomas
"That was a fun game. We made plays when we needed to and got contributions from everyone." - IU East coach Mark Hester
UP NEXT
IU East travels to Madonna University's Bernie Holowicki Classic on Nov. 2 and 3.