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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI got a career-high 20 points from freshman Alex Young and sophomore Leroy Nobles tossed in a career-best 19 as the Jaguars outlasted Eastern Illinois, 67-60 in front of 2,447 fans inside downtown Conseco Fieldhouse. Young hit 7-of-13 shots, including four threes, to net the most points by an IUPUI (3-2) player this season. 

Nobles hit 7-of-14 from the floor and capped the win with an emphatic two-handed dunk in 36 minutes work. 

"I thought our wings were phenomenal tonight. They won this game for us," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "When we needed points, they got the buckets for us. They were the difference in the game.

"The atmosphere in here was outstanding. I thought our students were great, I thought the band and cheerleaders were awesome. It really felt like a home court advantage in here."

The win was IUPUI's first-ever at Conseco and the first-ever over EIU (1-3). It also ran the Jaguars' home winning streak to 18 straight with the first 17 coming inside The Jungle.

After EIU took a 44-43 lead on T.J. Marion's driving runner, the Jaguars took the lead for good when Young swished a trey from the right baseline corner in front of the IUPUI bench. Two possessions later, Nobles swished a three off a Billy Pettiford feed, making it 51-45 with 12:17 left. The Panthers closed within two, but six straight IUPUI points from Young and Nobles made it 57-49 and the Jags carried at least a two possession advantage for the duration. 

Offensively, IUPUI shot nearly 48 percent from the field and hit a season-high eight treys. Defensively, the Jags held the Panthers to just 36 percent shooting in the second half and forced 17 turnovers. IUPUI held EIU guard Romain Martin, who came in averaging better than 20 points per game, to just 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting. 

Tyler Laser came off the bench to lead EIU in scoring with 17 and Ousmane Cisse added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Laser hit 6-of-7 shots including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

"I thought we did a really good job of identifying Martin and making him take tough shots," Hunter said. "Our defense was really, really solid in the second half and that's what's going to carry us. We kept them to 36 percent shooting and forced them into some bad shots.

"I think we have the potential to be very good defensively. We're still learning and still working at it, but once guys start figuring it out, we're going to be special at that end of the floor."

In the first half, IUPUI used a 9-0 run to build an eight-point lead with 8:22 left in the session. Adrian Moss, Nobles and Jon Avery scored three apiece during the rally. EIU countered with an 8-0 burst and took a brief one-point lead with 2:09 left. 

The Jags broke a 32 all tie on the final possession of the first half when Young swished a 24-footer with just two seconds left. Young split his 20 points evenly over the first and second halves. 

"I tried to shoot it just like any other shot," Young said during the postgame radio show. "I tried not to think about it and just shot it with confidence."

Pettiford finished with a season-high 11 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Avery chipped in seven points and a team-high six rebounds and Moss scored six points on a pair of first half threes. 

Junior Robert Glenn was the only other IUPUI player to reach the scoring column with four points and four rebounds. He also blocked a pair of shots in the game's final 80 seconds to thwart any thoughts of a comeback.

IUPUI returns to practice tomorrow to tune up for Saturday's game at Western Michigan. The Jaguars will take on the Broncos inside Western Hall in a 2:00 p.m. tipoff on Nov. 29. Pregame coverage will begin on XL 950 at 1:30 as Greg Rakestraw describes the sights and sounds.