Box Score I Box Score (.pdf)

FARGO, N.D. – Junior Alex Young scored a game-high 24 points and swatted a career-high five shots as IUPUI outlasted North Dakota State, 76-72 on Saturday night at the Bison Sports Arena. The Jaguars built a 21-point first half lead, but had to cling for dear life down the stretch to escape with the victory.

Senior Leroy Nobles turned in 16 points, including hitting 8-of-9 at the free throw line, and junior Stephen Thomas added 11 points off the bench. Michael Tveidt led North Dakota State (13-12, 7-8 Summit) with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss.

"This is a good, gutty win for us," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "I thought we played really good basketball for about 25 minutes and then we kind of coasted. We need to correct that. I thought we did a good job of changing defenses tonight and keeping them off balance, especially in the first half. We gave them three or four different looks in the first half and never really let them get into a rhythm."

IUPUI (16-11, 10-4 Summit) got off to a slow start, falling behind 12-4 in the early going as NDSU redshirt freshman Taylor Braun pumped in eight early. However, the Jaguars more than dominated the next eight minutes by unloading a 37-8 counter punch to build a 41-20 with 4:28 left before halftime. Seemingly every Jaguar on the court made contributions, beginning with back-to-back buckets from Anthony Williams, followed by a Thomas three to tie the game at 16 all.

Later, Sean Esposito tossed in five straight points including a 27-footer in transition after a Christian Siakam steal. Freshman Donovan Gibbs turned in a putback to make it 27-16, forcing NDSU Head Coach Saul Phillips to call a timeout.

Trailing by 21, NDSU quickly shaved 12 points off the lead with a 16-4 burst before halftime. Mike Felt turned in consecutive threes and Eric Carlson ended the half with an offensive rebound basket at the final horn.

The second half was mostly a nip-and-tuck battle with Young carrying the Jaguars' offense and Tveidt heating up for the Bison. IUPUI methodically pulled out to a 14-point advantage with 7:12 left when Esposito tossed in right-handed layup. Like the first half though, North Dakota State answered by scoring the game's next 11 points. The Bison run was aided when Nobles was whistled for an intentional foul as he challenged Braun from behind on a breakaway dunk attempt.

Braun hit both free throws and Drew Lundberg swished a three on the ensuing possession, making it 66-63 with 4:02 to play. On the Jaguars' next trip, Siakam spun around a defender and dropped in a layup to push the lead back out to five. The 6-foot-7 Cameroon-native then proceeded to swat a shot at the other end and came up with a key offensive rebound of his own miss, retaining possession with just over two minutes left.

Nobles left the door cracked for NDSU by missing the front end of a one-and-one with 1:28 to play, but later redeemed himself by swishing four tense attempts in one-and-one opportunities. Nobles' misfire was the Jaguars' only miss during the two-game trip as the Jaguars hit 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) on Saturday. IUPUI was a perfect 9-of-9 in the loss at South Dakota State on Thursday night and upped its percentage to 78 percent overall with Saturday's performance.

"If you look at our season, one thing we have consistently done is shoot free throws well. We're among the best teams in the country when it comes to that," Hunter said. "That's become a weapon for us, is getting to the line and then making them. Leroy and our seniors stepped up and made some plays when we needed them."

Senior John Ashworth made the final play of the night, picking off a pass with the Jags clinging to a four-point lead with under 10 seconds left.

Ashworth had four points and four boards in his return to the starting lineup and Siakam ended the game with eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Thomas scored nine of his 11 before halftime and added two assists and a steal in 35 minutes work.

"I thought it really helped bringing Stephen off (the bench). That gave us a little more explosion off the bench that what we typically have," Hunter said. "We still got off to a slow start, but again, that's something we'll figure out."

Young was 11-of-18 overall as the Jaguars hit 50.9 percent in the win. He also became just the sixth player in school history to surpass the 1,500 point mark on Saturday night, moving to 1,521 in his three-year career.

"I'm glad he's on our side," Hunter said of the 6-foot-6 junior. "He's a hard, hard cover. I don't know how you cover the guys, especially once he gets going."

IUPUI will return home for its final two-game homestand of the season, beginning with Southern Utah on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in The Jungle. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (play-by-play) and Angelo Smith (analyst) will begin at 6:55 on 88.3 FM / The Walk. In addition, the game can be viewed via the website as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service on IUPUIJags.com.