WVU Tech head men's basketball coach James Long could not hide his excitement after his team's win over Indiana East Saturday, and rightfully so.

Sitting in a tie at the top of the East Division of the River States Conference with the Red Wolves, a victory would put the winner in the driver's seat for the overall conference title and a guaranteed spot in the NAIA Division II national tournament.

Coming off a double-digit loss in December to the Red Wolves, Long was confident in his team heading into Saturday's game. The coach's confidence played out on the floor as the Golden Bears gained a measure of revenge with an 88-85 win.

IU East head coach Mark Hester said it was a different team his players battled Saturday.

"All the credit to (WVU Tech). They did some great things and they made shots like you wouldn't believe," Hester said. "What (Long) has been able to do in his first year here is pretty amazing, getting the guys to buy in and do things a little bit differently. They had left over a championship-type culture and it showed today."

IU East's money player Bishop Smith came out of the gate hot, knocking down four 3-pointers to get the Red Wolves going. Tech had the equalizer in the Swedish Assassin, Andreas Jönsson, who hit three of his four long balls during that stretch to keep Tech in the game.

Trailing for the first 10 minutes of the game, the Golden Bears took the lead on a bucket from Andrew Work after Tamon Scruggs evened the game with a 3-pointer on the previous trip.

The Red Wolves would regain the lead at 35-34 on a score from Smith. That lead evaporated when Scruggs scored on a stickback and Tech took a 40-37 lead into the locker room on Darrin Martin's score in transition.

"We knew that they beat us down there, and we got away from what we were doing. We just had to get back to us," Tech assistant head coach George Wilmore said. "We knew they were going to play through Bishop. We just had to contain him and contain the supporting cast. We wanted to make him take tough shots and I thought we did that consistently."

Tech started fast in the second half behind the pure shooting of Dominik King, who knocked down two triples and scored on a nice curl down the lane. When Juvante Hayes scored on back-to-back buckets, Tech led by 10 with just over 14 minutes to play.

"Today was a matter of not doing the things we were supposed to do. It all comes down to executing what you have been taught," Hester said. "We did not do a good job of that today and (WVU Tech) did a good job of exploiting some of the differences when we were bigger than they were. We made the mistakes and they capitalized."

Midway through the second half, IU East trimmed the lead to one at 66-65. Tech answered with a triple from King and when Junior Arrey forced the defense to collapse on him in the lane, Arrey found King and Jonsson for back-to-back 3s and a 79-69 lead.

"I think we have some of the strongest and best finishers in the league," Wilmore said. "We want to get to the third side of the floor to get the defense moving. When we can get to the third side of the floor, we can score at will and you saw that today."

The visitors refused to go away and cut the lead to one and had a chance for the lead, only to be thwarted by the Tech defense. Down the stretch, the ability of Martin and Hayes to get inside for easy scores was the difference in the game.

"It doesn't matter who we are playing, everybody has different schemes and different personnel. At East, I feel like that was my fault because we got away from what we do," Long admitted. "I tried to change too much and that wasn't us. My guys are great players and great people. When I let them play, that is the best version of us."

Long does not hide the ramifications of the win with his players, who now have a golden opportunity in front of them

"I told the guys that they were in the driver's seat. Now it is about the choice we make everyday," Long explained. "Are we going to show up like a champion and prepare like a champion? Are we going to show up ready to compete and ready to play hard? It is up to them now, but I believe in them."

Indiana University East (17-10, 11-2)

Jehu Lafeuillee 2, Keating Rombach 12, Donald Lee 10, Bishop Smith 31, Garrett Silcott 14, Nate Soltis 8, Tanner McFall 8. 37-77 2-6 85.

WVU Tech (18-7, 12-1) 

Junior Arrey 9, Andreas Jönsson 16, Dominik King 21, Juvante' Hayes 17, Andrew Work 2, Darrin Martin 10, Tamon Scruggs 13. 34-65 7-11 88.. Totals: 

IUE: 37 48     — 85

WVUT: 40 48     — 88

3-point goals: IUE: 9 (Lee, Bishop 7, Silcott), WVUT: 13 (Jonsson 4, King 5, Hayes 3, Scruggs)). Fouled out: None