WHITING, Ind. – The Purdue University Northwest men's basketball team held off a second-half rally for a big 78-70 conference victory at rival Calumet College of St. Joseph Wednesday night at the Rittenmeyer Center.

The Pride improved to 10-12 overall and 8-6 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which keeps PNW in second place  in the South Division and two games ahead of the Crimson Wave, who fell to 6-8 in CCAC play and 10-11 overall.

The win avenged an earlier-season loss to Calumet College, who won the first meeting, 72-56, Nov. 16 in Hammond.

Sophomore Chandler Spring (Covington, Ind./Covington) (Covington, Ind./Covington) led PNW with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, adding five rebounds and three assists and junior teammate Tyree Coe (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) added 16 points. PNW teammates Jai Wright (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) and Ryan Barnes (Crown Point, Ind./Illiana Christian) (Crown Point, Ind./Illiana Christian) each chipped in 10 points, which marked career-highs for both players.

PNW, which won its third-straight conference contest, led at the break, 41-28, bolstered by 15 first-half points from Spring, who made 7-of-13 from the field in the first 20 minutes. For the game, Purdue Northwest shot a blistering 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the field for the game, while holding the Crimson Wave to 32.9 percent (25-of-76) from the floor.

Purdue Northwest led by as many as 18, 49-31, at the 15:50 mark of the second half before the Crimson Wave began to mount its comeback. CCSJ would go on to outscore PNW by a 17-5 margin over the next five minutes to cut that lead to six, 54-48, with 10:47 to play.

But back-to-back layups by Wright and Barnes helped withstand the charge and push that lead back to double-digits (58-48) with 9:36 to go. CCSJ wasn't finished, however, as the Crimson Wave used a 7-0 run to trim the lead to just three, 58-55, on a Michael Brooks 3-pointer at the 4:33 mark.

That's when Coe got hot from deep, draining two clutch, back-to-back triples to push the PNW back to seven. The closest CCSJ would get after that was four, on two Demonte Lowery free-throws with 31 seconds left. But the Pride defense and free-throws from Spring (1-2) and Wright (3-4) would help seal the win in the final seconds.

Wright recorded his first double-double of the year with a team-high 10 boards and senior Shereff Knight (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) dished out seven assists.

Darrick Scott led CCSJ with 18 points, Lowery added 14 points, and Karon Linton and Julian Snowden each scored 11 each in the setback.

Purdue Northwest returns to action Saturday, Jan. 28, when the Pride host Roosevelt on Kids Day at Hammond's Fitness and Recreation Center. Tip-off of the men's game is set for 3 p.m., preceded by the women's contest at 1 p.m.