KOKOMO, Ind. - For just the second time in program history, the Midway men's basketball program has knocked off a top-25, nationally ranked opponent.

Amari Wales and Sam Parrish had 24 and 20 points respectively, Dontavius King and Maurice Washington Williams had double-doubles and Midway held off several Indiana Kokomo rallies and pulled away for an 87-76 win over the No. 25-ranked Cougars in Kokomo Saturday.

The only other Midway win over a ranked opponent also came against a No. 25-ranked, River States Conference team from the Indiana University system, a 66-63 triumph over Indiana Southeast on Nov. 28, 2017. Saturday was the first ranked victory on the road.

Fresh off a 30-point, nine-rebound effort in an overtime win at Indiana East on Tuesday, Wales led the offense again, while getting plenty of help from a starting lineup in which four of five players scored in double figures. 

Down 38-35 with 1:24 left in the first half, the Eagles gave themselves a major momentum boost going into halftime, finishing on a 6-0 run and taking a 41-38 lead on a Decoreio Smith dunk off a Parrish pass just before time expired.

Unsurprisingly, the Cougars would battle back. The lead changed hands six times in the first nine minutes of the second half and the score stood at 66-66 following a Patrick Matson jumper for IUK.

But thanks in part to the glass work of King, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds, the Eagles would take the lead and never give it back.

King got a defensive rebound and made an outlet pass to Parrish, who was fouled and made two free throws. Then, after pulling down an offensive rebound, King, who now has three double-doubles in his last five games, had a putback to push Midway ahead 70-66.

The Cougars got within 70-69, only for the Eagles to answer with five-consecutive points, the first two off a Sarvell Barksdale dunk and the rest via a Wales 3-point play.

And after another Wales layup made it 77-72, the lead would never drop below two possessions as the Eagles ended the night on a 12-4 scoring run.

Washington Williams finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Barksdale scored 10, his first double-digit game since Nov. 1.

Now 10-11 overall, the Eagles improve to 7-4 in the River States Conference and can clinch a spot in the RSC Tournament with a win over Kentucky Christian on Tuesday.

They also have a potentially huge game for the No. 2 seed in the East Division on Thursday with Rio Grande, which also improved to 7-4 with a 77-69 win over Oakland City Saturday.

The Red Storm currently owns a tie-breaker thanks to their 71-64 win over Midway on Dec. 2. The No. 2 seed gets to play its opening-round game at home while the No. 3 opens on the road.

Tuesday's game against Kentucky Christian at Marshall Gymnasium tips at 6 p.m.