MARION, Ind. – All-America post Seth Maxwell scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in a dominant first half, as No. 5-ranked Indiana Wesleyan held Oregon Tech to 18-percent shooting from the field over the opening 20 minutes, rolling to a 94-57 victory inside Luckey Arena.
 
The Wildcats (2-2), coming off back-to-back losses, used runs of 11-0 and 17-0 to take a 30-6 lead against the No. 22-ranked Hustlin' Owls – making their first ever appearance in the Hoosier State.
 
"Hats off to Indiana Wesleyan," said OIT head coach Justin Parnell. "What a great team who is exceptionally well coached."
 
Tech (1-1) took their only lead of the game at 3-2 after an Erik Fraser triple, only to see Noah Smith answer with a 3-pointer of his own, with a Maxwell dunk pushing the margin to 13-3.
 
A Joey Potts 3-pointer got the Owls within 13-6 with 16 minutes left in the half – but Tech miss 13-straight shots and commit six turnovers during an 8-minute scoreless drought. Maxwell scored eight in the 17-0 run, extending the margin to 30-6 – with the hosts taking a 51-13 lead to the break.
 
OIT would win the second half 44-43, thanks to a late 15-5 run after IWU built their largest lead of the night at 89-42.
 
"They beat us in every facet of the game," Parnell said. "That's 100-percent on me as a coach – I didn't get the team ready for a truly big road game. We were not prepared as we should have been. I love this group and I truly believe we are a bunch of Oregon Tech guys. I have no doubt we will respond Friday night."
 
Kody Bauman scored 11 points with four rebounds off the bench for OIT, with Potts adding nine points and Noah Thomas tallying eight.
 
Griffin Kliewer scored 10 of his 16 points for IWU in the second half, as six Wildcats scored in double-figures.
 
The Hustlin' Owls travel north to Winona Lake on Friday, opening the Crossroads/Cascade Challenge, presented by Cascade Hoops Talk, meeting No. 8-ranked Grace College at 7 p.m. (EST) – live on 92.5 KLAD-FM.