KOKOMO, Ind. - Holding a 15-point lead at halftime, the IU Kokomo men's basketball team pulled out a narrow victory over a resilient WVU Tech squad in Wednesday's River States Conference Quarterfinal, advancing to the semifinals despite giving up the lead with seven minutes remaining.

FAST FACTS - 76-71 win vs WVU Tech

• LOCATION: Student Activities and Events Center | Kokomo, IN
• UPDATED RECORDS: WVU Tech - 11-16, IU Kokomo - 23-6
• NAIA TOP-25 RANKINGS: WVU Tech - N/A, IU Kokomo - N/A

THE RUNDOWN

• Both teams got off to a strong start, combining for 31 points before the under-15 media timeout, with IU Kokomo leading WVU Tech 19-12.
• The Cougars pushed their lead into double digits by the 11-minute mark and never let it fall below 10 for the rest of the half, heading into halftime with a 41-26 advantage.
• WVU Tech came out of the locker room strong to start the second half, cutting IU Kokomo's 15-point halftime lead to seven by the under-15 media timeout.
• A persistent Golden Bears squad kept chipping away at the Cougar lead, with their leading scorer Brandon Moore giving them their first lead of the game at 61-60 on a pair of free throws with 7:01 remaining.
• IU Kokomo answered with four straight points to retake the lead, but a three-pointer from WVU Tech's Trayten Woods put the Golden Bears back on top 65-64 with 2:47 remaining.
• After a layup from Alonzo Clawson-Smith and a three from Evan Kretz gave the Cougars a 69-67 lead, Patric Matson scored the team's final seven points, sealing a 76-71 quarterfinal win over the Golden Bears.

LEADING THE CHARGE

• Five different Cougars reached double figures in scoring, while six contributed at least five rebounds in the hard-fought home win Wednesday night.
• Freshman Jake McGraw paced IU Kokomo with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds, while classmates Patric Matson and Alonzo Clawson-Smith each added 15 points. Matson also grabbed six rebounds, and Clawson-Smith finished with six assists and five rebounds.
• Evan Kretz contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while Kedric Anderson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
• Ibrahim Diakite started and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Cameron Karns added seven boards in 10 minutes of action. Seven of Diakite's rebounds came in the second half, and six of Karns' seven occurred in the first half.

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

• "Gritty effort down the stretch to beat a WVU Tech team that had been playing very good basketball as of late. Everybody had to step up tonight and I thought that happened.Great balance in the scoring and rebounding columns. Excited to advance and play in front of our home crowd again this Saturday at 3:00 PM!" - Head Coach Eric Echelbarger

THE ROAD AHEAD

• Next Game: 2/28 vs Rio Grande - 3:00 PM EST (River States Conference Championship Semifinal)

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.