MARION, Ind. — Billy Geschke went 10-for-10 at the foul line and scored 18 points, one short of his season high, but a second-half comeback from the Goshen College men's basketball team fell short in an 87-78 loss to sixth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University in Crossroads League play at Luckey Arena.

The Wildcats (19-4, 9-2) raced to 54 first-half points, making 21 of their 27 shots (77.8 percent) from the floor and assisting on 19 of them to lead by 15 at the intermission. IWU would extend its lead as far as 23, reaching a 71-48 edge with 12:20 left in regulation.

Goshen (10-13, 3-8) answered by holding the NAIA's 10th-best shooting team without a basket for six minutes and 55 seconds, setting off an 18-2 run that whittled the lead down to 73-66. During that span, the Maple Leafs went 10-for-12 at the foul line while making four of six field-goal tries, with Geschke's six points leading all scorers.

Once the Wildcats snapped their skid, however, the reaction was swift, as baskets from Lane Mahurin and Grant Evans along with two Jacob Johnson free throws pushed the lead back to 12 with 4:09 to play; Goshen would never get closer than eight points again.

Bob Peters led all scorers with 25 points for IWU after scoring 16 on 6-of-6 shooting in the first half. Lane Mahurin and Grant Evans added 17 each. The hosts cooled off to 35.7 percent (10-for-28) shooting in the final 20 minutes and missed 10 of their last 14 three-pointers after making seven of the first 10. Twenty-seven Wildcat assists matched a season high and was the most by any CL team in league play this season.

Xavier Newson scored 22 points to lead GC, draining eight of 11 shot attempts including four of five from three-point range. Christian Grider added 12 and Devin Heath-Granger, who led all players with 39 minutes, contributed 11. Goshen shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the floor and 20-of-27 (74.1 percent) at the foul line.

Mahurin finished with a game-high nine rebounds and teammate Jacob Johnson paced all assisters with six. Heath-Granger led Goshen in both categories with five and three, respectively, tying Kevin Phillips in the former case. No player had more than two steals and there were no blocks in the game.

Goshen returns to action Saturday when it hosts Grace in the 128th meeting between the two schools, the most for GC against any opponent. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on Retro Jersey Day at Gunden Gymnasium with the women's game between the two schools following at 3.