TIGERS FIGHT OFF IU SOUTH BEND; ADVANCE TO CCAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In their first game of the postseason, the Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team fought off Indiana South Bend down the stretch to hang on for a 75-73 win in the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday evening in the Student Activities Center.

The win, ONU's sixth in a row, advances the Tigers to the CCAC Tournament Semifinal where they will take on top-seeded St. Francis (Ill.) Friday.

The four vs. five-seed tournament matchup resulted in a tightly contested affair, with ONU and IUSB nearly mirroring each other's stats to reach a tie at halftime. Both teams shot 16-of-29 from the floor, knocked down six 3-pointers, and went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe to deadlock at 41-41 heading into the break.

But the Tigers broke away in the second half. Caleb Corro and Daniel Murphy opened the scoring with back-to-back layups to put ONU in front, and the Tigers would lead from there.

The lead ballooned to as many as 10 points after Andrew Bennett laced a 3-pointer to make it 70-60 with under five minutes to play. But the Titans (17-12) caught fire from deep to get back into the game, knocking down three consecutive triples in piecing together a 13-4 run to cut the Tiger lead to one at 74-73 with a minute to go.

ONU failed to convert on their ensuing possession, but Murphy came down with a key offensive rebound to force an IUSB foul. Caleb Swearingen split his trip to the free-throw line, but the Tiger defense held on the last possession to secure the win.

Eli Edwards led all scorers with 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor. Corro and Swearingen both notched 12 points apiece. Tyler Curl was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep in scoring 11 points. Murphy finished with eight points while Andrew Bennett led the bench unit with seven.

The Tigers will travel to Joliet, Ill., to take on the Fighting Saints in the CCAC Tournament semifinal round Friday evening.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu