SHREVEPORT, La. - Junior Austin Montgomery capped a career night with a put back with 1.6 seconds left to propel IUPUI to a 70-68 win at Centenary on Thursday night. Montgomery finished with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting as the Jags saw a late 12-point lead slip away over the final three minutes, before escaping with the win.
Montgomery put IUPUI up 66-54 with 15-foot jumper with 3:09 left, but Centenary scored the next nine points to make it a game. The Gents took advantage of three IUPUI turnovers and a pair of missed free throws to pull within three at 66-63.
Sophomore Gary Patterson pushed the lead back to 68-63 at the free throw line with 56 seconds left, but Centenary's Tyrone Hamilton quickly answered with a contested three at the other end 11 seconds later.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Patterson turned the ball over, leading to a Hamilton layup to tie the score with 34 seconds left. After IUPUI melted away most of the clock, Patterson drove the lane and flipped a scoop shot off the backboard. It came off, right to Montgomery, who grabbed his eighth rebound of the night and dropped in the game-winner.
Without a timeout, Centenary inbounded to Chase Adams, who flung a 65-footer that drew back iron as time expired.
"I thought Austin was an absolute monster in there tonight," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "We played like a very immature basketball team tonight, but we made a few more plays at the end.
"We did what we had to do, which was come in here and get a win and stay in the race."
IUPUI (9-10, 3-3 Mid-Con) built a 28-13 first half lead thanks to Montgomery's hot start and some timely three-point shooting. Montgomery hit four of his first five shots of the game, while Patterson, Craig Swoope and Billy Pettiford all hit early treys to gain the early advantage.
The Gents (7-14, 1-5 Mid-Con) held IUPUI without a field goal over the next 7:40, outscoring the Jags 17-1 during the stretch to take a 30-29 lead early in the second half. Patterson stopped the bleeding with a three, as the Jags would recapture a three possession lead for much of the second half.
For the game, IUPUI hit 46.9 percent from the floor and 38.9 percent from three-point land. The Jags used a 37-26 advantage on the glass to help offset 15 turnovers.
"Tonight, I think our size really bothered them," Hunter said.
Meanwhile, Centenary committed just six turnovers and hit 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Gents shot 57.1 percent in the second half to finish at just over 46 percent for the game.
Nine of IUPUI's 15 turnovers resulted from Centenary steals.
Swoope and Angelo Smith had 11 points each, while Swoope narrowly missed his first career double-double by grabbing a career-best nine rebounds. Patterson added nine points in 28 minutes after missing the past two games.
"If we don't have Gary tonight, we don't win this basketball game," Hunter said. "He really shouldn't be playing right now. I'm really proud of him and he knows that his teammates need him in there."
Alexander Starr led four Gents in double-digits with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Hamilton finished with 15. Eight of Hamilton's points came in the final 3:02 of the contest.
IUPUI will conclude the two-game road trip at Mid-Con leader Oral Roberts on Saturday night. Tip time is slated for 8:00 p.m. from the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla.. Preagame coverage on Gold 95.9 FM will begin at 7:30 as Greg Rakestraw describes the action.
The Jags have lost four of their last five trips to the Mabee Center.
"We're going to have some fun in there," Hunter said. "We haven't had a lot of luck there in the past, so we're going to change some things up. We're going to stay at a different hotel, eat at some different restaurants and come up with a game plan."
