Indiana Tech: Warrior Athletics

Tech Comes Up Short in Upset Bid of No. 8 Davenport

February 16, 2013

For Immediate Release

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men’s basketball team nearly pulled off a big upset over first-place Davenport University in the regular season finale on Saturday in the Schaefer Center.

The Warriors fought back from a 16-point second half, narrowing the gap to five in the final minutes, but the 8th-ranked Panthers held on to defeat Tech 67-57 and secure their second straight WHAC regular season title.

Before the game, the Warriors honored seniors Melvin Brooks, Antonio Cannon and Jordan Hickman for their contributions to the Indiana Tech program.

Davenport (25-5, 18-4 WHAC) jumped out to an early advantage, pulling ahead 8-0 after the first four minutes, and would never surrender their lead. The Panthers were up 18-5 midway through the half but the Warriors fought back and outscored DU 17-10 over the final ten minutes of the period, including a basket by Cannon just before the buzzer to make it a 28-22 game at the half.

The Panthers had all the momentum coming out of the locker room, opening the half on a 12-2 run to push their lead to 40-24 with 15:41 remaining in the contest.

Indiana Tech (21-9, 14-8 WHAC) showed their toughness though, as Jeff Hoskins fueled a 10-0 Warrior run with eight points to get within six. But Davenport answered with a big three, and following a Tech free throw, the Panthers drained another triple to extend their lead back to double digits, 46-35.

With the Warriors still trailing by ten at the 3:45 mark, Cannon knocked down a three-pointer and after a defensive stop, Hoskins drove to the basket to cut the DU lead to just five, 60-55, with under three minutes to play.

However Davenport would respond, once again, with four straight points to put a stop to the Tech rally and seal the win.

Hoskins scored a season-high 21 points to pace the Warriors, and for the third time in the last four games Hickman recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Cannon finished with 17 points and four boards.

Indiana Tech finished the regular season in a tie for fourth place in the standings, but due to tiebreakers will have the 5th-seed and travel to 4th-seeded Cornerstone University for the first round of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.

For more information on Indiana Tech athletics please call the Athletic Office at 260-422-5561 ext. 2492 or visit our website at http://www.indianatech.edu/athletics