Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Video Highlights I Todd Howard Postgame I Stephen Thomas Postgame

INDIANAPOLIS - Senior guard Stephen Thomas led four Jaguars in double-digits with 18 points and both Alex Young and Ian Chiles finished with 15 as IUPUI outlasted Western Illinois, 75-68 inside the Jungle on Friday (Dec. 30) night. The win was IUPUI's fifth-in-a-row dating back to early December, all of which have come at home, and first in Summit League action.

Terell Parks led WIU (6-5, 1-2 Summit) with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting and nine boards and freshman Obi Emegano chipped in 17 in the loss.

After leading 40-36 at the break, IUPUI (7-8, 1-2 Summit) opened the second half with a decisive 16-2 run and held the Leathernecks without a field goal for more than nine minutes en route to building an 18-point lead. However, Western countered late and trimmed the Jags' lead back to six on two different occasions. Yet each time the Jaguars came up with timely buckets to secure the win.

"We talked about in the first half how well we played offensively and we just didn't get defensive breaks," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "I thought our effort was there. (WIU) made some tough shots. They got in a groove.

"We shot a high percentage in the first half, scored 40 points against a quality defensive team, had 11 assists and just didn't have enough to show for it. I was proud of the start how we stayed with it. I thought our execution was probably the best we've had all year."

After seeing the 62-44 lead whittled down to just seven after an 11-0 WIU run, sophomore center Mitchell Patton came up with a key play when he put back a Thomas miss and was fouled on the shot with just 3:23 left. The 6-foot-9 lefty completed the three-point play to make it a 10-point game, but the Fighting Leathernecks refused to go away.

Four straight points cut the IUPUI lead down to six at the 2:20 mark, but again it was the offensive glass that led to a Jaguar bucket. This time, freshman Lyonell Gaines dropped in a layup after a Chiles miss to extend the margin back to eight. A third offensive board all but sealed it as the Jaguars were less than spectacular from the foul line down the stretch. Patton missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 60 seconds left and IUPUI up eight, but Young outscrapped four Leathernecks to track down the offensive carom in the corner in front of his own bench. After he was fouled, the lefty swished two freebies and IUPUI held on from there.

"We knew they were going to make a run and they did," Howard said. "They chopped the game up. We missed a free throw here and a layup there and just kind of gave them some life.

"Overall, I thought we defended well behind the (three-point) line and that's going to be key for us."

With his 15 points, Young passed IUPUI Hall of Famer Jesse Bingham to move into third-place on the program's career scoring list, finishing the night with 1,930 to his credit. His point total remains the highest total among active Division I basketball players. Patton finished with 10 points and four boards in just 19 minutes work and senior Christian Siakam chipped in six points and five boards in 18 minutes at the five spot. Gaines added six points and five boards, all off the offensive glass as IUPUI outscored the guests 18-11 on second chance points.

IUPUI finished the game with a 34-31 rebounding advantage and shot 49.1 percent from the floor and 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from three. Thomas was 6-of-11 overall and 3-of-5 from both behind the three-point line and at the charity stripe. His consecutive free throws made streak was snapped at 31 straight when he missed an attempt late in the contest. The Indianapolis-native had missed only three freebies all year and came in shooting 94.2 percent to rank second in the nation.

Both teams started hot from the floor and never really cooled off with each side shooting better than 55 percent before halftime. WIU built a quick 8-3 lead in the game's first 2:22 with Parks maneuvering around Patton in close for easy looks. Thomas shot the Jaguars back in front, scoring 12 of his 14 in the first 10 minutes including three early threes. Young was content playing the role of facilitator early with four of his game-high five assists coming in the first half.

"I just knew we had to get out to a good start," Thomas said of his early game shooting. "The two conference games we dropped earlier this year, we got off to slow starts. It was emphasized by our coaches that that was what we needed to get better at.

"The break that we've had over Christmas, I've been able to get in the gym a lot, get a lot of shots up and really work on my game."

For Thomas, it was his eighth double-digit scoring effort of the season and pushed him over 500 points in his IUPUI career. During the five-game winning streak, the Dayton-transfer is averaging better than 13 points and hitting nearly 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Ceola Clark finished with 14 points including three late threes and Tommie Tyler scored 16 off the bench. Western hit 46.3 percent for the game, but just 3-of-15 (20 percent) from three. The Leathernecks started the game 0-of-11 from deep before Clark hit three of his final four attempts on Friday.

IUPUI will conclude the six-game homestand on Tuesday (Jan. 3) when the Jaguars host UMKC in a 7:00 p.m. Summit League tip-off inside the Jungle. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the game on WNDE with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 6:50. In addition, the game can be viewed on IUPUIJags.com as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service.

Reserved seats are just $10 and IUPUI students are admitted for free at the door with a valid JagTag.