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LAS VEGAS - Sophomore Sean Esposito swished a step back three from the top of the key with 5.1 seconds left to send IUPUI to a thrilling 69-68 win over San Francisco in the finale of the 2010 Jerry Tarkanian Holiday Hoops Classic on Thursday night. The three capped a wild night as IUPUI trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and were still down by 11 with 7:19 to play. After Esposito's trey, USF guard Michael Williams misfired on a wing three as time expired.

"It feels unbelievable," Esposito said. "To not play in five games and then come out and hit a game-winner feels unbelievable. I knew there'd be an opportunity with Leroy (Nobles) out and I had to be ready to make shots."

Senior John Ashworth led three Jaguars in double-digits with a career-high 18 points on six threes and junior Alex Young added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Classmate Stephen Thomas matched his career-high with 16 points, 11 of which came in the second half, and Esposito finished with nine on three threes. IUPUI (6-8) was without second leading scorer Leroy Nobles, who suffered an injury in the loss to No. 7 San Diego State on Tuesday. Nobles had started 60 straight games before watching Thursday's game from the sidelines in a black IUPUI sweatsuit.

"With Leroy out, we knew someone had to pick up the slack," Ashworth said. "I knew I had to come out and be aggressive. I hit my first (three), and that kind of got me going the rest of the night."

With IUPUI's top marksman on the bench, both teams came out firing - and hitting - from the outset. San Francisco (4-8) went racing out to an 11-3 lead, thanks to three early trifectas and IUPUI was seemingly playing uphill from that point forward.

IUPUI took a brief lead at 24-23 when Young threw down a two-handed dunk as the trailer on the break off a pass from Ashworth at the 9:13 mark. USF continued to rain in threes though as three different players hit on consecutive possessions, helping push the lead out to 40-28 with 4:12 left before halftime. 

IUPUI closed the half on a 9-1 run to close within 41-37 at the break. San Francisco hit 9-of-14 from three in the first half and finished the game at 11-of-25 (44 percent).

Runs were easily the story of the second half, beginning with the Dons' 7-0 burst to start the final 20 minutes. However, IUPUI came back with an 11-0 run to knot the score at 48 all on Young's eight-footer with 10:45 to play. San Francisco absorbed the Jaguars' blow and unloaded its own haymaker with an 11-0 run that made it 62-51 at the 7:19 mark. Eight of the 11 points came in the paint, capped by a Moustapha Diarra sweeping three-point play. 

Seemingly at a breaking point, Thomas took over for the Jaguars, scoring IUPUI's next nine points over 3+ minutes as IUPUI closed within four. With the lead, USF opted to try and milk the clock on offense, but the move backfired.

After a USF shot clock violation, IUPUI made it 64-63 when Esposito drove through traffic and kicked out to Ashworth, who stroked his fifth trey of the night from the right wing. San Francisco retaliated with a Perris Blackwell layup to make it 66-63 with 56 seconds left and things looked bleak when Esposito missed on a three-point attempt from near the top of the key with 40 seconds left.

Forced to foul, IUPUI sent USF guard Rashad Green to the foul line with 32.2 seconds left and the junior calmly rattled home both tries. IUPUI got three back when Ashworth hit again off an Esposito feed with 24 ticks left. The door was left open for the Jaguars when Williams missed the front end of a one-and-one with 23.6 seconds to play, setting up Esposito's heroics.

Esposito finished the game 3-of-6 from three after having played just three minutes in IUPUI's past five games combined.

"We've been in this situation a lot, so we knew what to do and what to run," Esposito said. "Honestly, I didn't realize we won the game - I thought we were down by three until I saw the guys going crazy on the bench."

It was 6-foot-3 sharpshooter's first game-winner since his days at nearby Cathedral High School.

IUPUI hit a season-high 13 threes in 30 attempts, good for 43.3 percent. USF outshot IUPUI and outrebounded the Jaguars 35-31 in the loss. The two teams combined for just 17 turnovers and 18 free throw attempts in a quickly played game.

"I don't know if we were both that good or both that lousy on defense," Ashworth said. "I've never been in a game like that where both teams went on long runs though."

Ashworth went 6-of-10 from three and handed out three assists in 33 minutes. Young earned his fourth career double-double and Thomas delivered five assists in his return to the starting lineup.

"I don't know if it was this gym or what, but it was one of those nights where I was just dialed in," Ashworth said of his career night. "It was great to have Sean step up and make a play when we needed it."

Williams led USF with 17 points, 10 boards and six assists and Cody Doolin added 12 points on four threes. Green tossed in 10 points, six boards and four assists.

IUPUI was previously 0-4 this season in game decided by three points or less. The Jagaurs were previously 0-1 all-time against San Francisco, having lost on the road in 1999 as part of the Cable Car Classic.

IUPUI will now return home briefly for the holidays before flying out to the Sunshine State to take on Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 27. IUPUI and FGCU will hook up at 7:00 p.m. on Monday night with pregame coverage with Dave Parks (pxp) beginning on 88.3 FM / The Walk at approximately 6:55 p.m..