INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team opened its exhibition slate with a 73-66 win over NCAA Division II Saint Joseph's College on Saturday night in The Jungle. Senior swingman Brandon Cole was the lone Jaguar in double-digits, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds.
"This is exactly why we play exhibition games," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "The only way we can go from here is up.
"We missed free throws, we turned the ball over and we didn't rebound tonight."
The game was close throughout although IUPUI led the final 29 minutes.
The visiting Pumas made it a 57-53 game with 9:54 to play when Blake Schoen knocked down a jumper. The Jaguars reeled off a 14-6 run, fueled by senior Blair Crawford and a couple of nifty post moves by senior center Michal Vavrek off the bench.
Crawford got things going by grabbing a loose ball and completing an old fashioned three-point play. Moments later, Vavrek dropped in a layup off a feed from Cole.
After a Sullivan Sykes jumper cut it back to 64-59, junior Angelo Smith answered with a short jumper. Cole got the lead back to 10 when he hit a runner off the dribble. Smith put the game away with just under six minutes to play when he grabbed an offensive rebound and stuck back the miss.
The contest was a struggle from the outset even though the Jaguars were able to build a 13-point lead in the waning moments of the first half when Matt Burks picked off a pass and raced the other way for a layup.
Saint Joseph's closed the half with a 6-0 run with Schoen getting four of the points.
Rashad McSwine led five Pumas in double-figures with 16 points. Schoen added 12 while Sykes and Pike-product Devin Thomas had 11 points each. Derek Fey finished the night with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Seven of his caroms came off the offensive glass.
Saint Joseph's outrebounded IUPUI 49-32 overall and 18-3 off the offensive glass. Both teams committed 24 turnovers as the Jags came up with 13 steals.
IUPUI connected on nearly 53 percent from the floor, hitting 30-of-57 field goal tries. Unfortunately, the Jags struggled shooting the basketball from long range and at the free throw line. IUPUI missed 17-of-23 three-point attempts and connected on just 41 percent at the foul line.
Maushae Bylesand Smith finished with nine points each. Sophomore guard George Hill, who was picked Second Team All Mid-Con in the preseason polls, had just eight points in 23 minutes as he battled foul troubles.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Hunter said. "Fortunately, we have about two weeks of practice before we have to play Winthrop."
The Jaguars wrap up their two-game exhibition schedule on Thursday night when they host Marian College. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m..
