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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The IUPUI basketball team had a penchant for climbing out of holes throughout the season, but fell into an insurmountable deficit on Monday night as the Jaguars fell to Oral Roberts in The Summit League Tournament semifinals, 83-77. IUPUI (19-14) put four players in double-digits, but couldn't get over the hump as ORU will advance to play Oakland in the league title game on Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

"I thought Oral Roberts played a good basketball game," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We got off to a bad start. Then we played pretty good after that. We made some bad decisions early - took some bad shots. That led to some weak outlets.

"The kids fought back to try to win the game, but the start killed us."
 
Junior Christian Siakam had a career-high 21 points and 15 rebounds and classmate Alex Young added 23 points and seven boards, but the Jaguars lost to ORU for the third time this season. Senior Leroy Nobles scored 21 in potentially his final collegiate game and Stephen Thomas closed with 11.

Dominique Morrison led all players with 26 points and Warren Niles added 20 in the win.

The game stayed nip-and-tuck throughout the first half until the Golden Eagles finally used its transition game to extend its early lead. After Young missed a pair of free throws with 6:20 before halftime that could have made it a one-point game, ORU (19-14) capitalized with a crippling 10-0 run.

Morrison and Niles scored back-to-back fast break layups with the latter becoming a three-point play opportunity. Even after Niles missed the ensuing free throw, the Golden Eagles got the offensive board and turned it into a Niles trey. Morrison followed with a three-point play from the right block at the 4:06 mark, making it 35-22.

Nobles breathed some late life into the offense with a long three with 31 seconds left before halftime, but Kyron Stokes matched it with a corner three at the final horn to make it 45-33 at the break.

IUPUI yielded four quick points to start the second half and didn't get the lead under single digits until there was 6:10 to play. Young put back a Thomas miss, making it 69-60, but ORU responded with a Damen Bell-Holter putback at the other end.

Young misfired on a three on the Jaguars' next offensive trip and ORU was content to slow down the game and shoot free throws as IUPUI was forced to press and foul. A furious late rally trimmed 10 points off the ORU lead in the final 91 seconds, but the final margin was the closest IUPUI had gotten since the 5:31 mark of the first half.

The Jags shot 46 percent from the floor and turned the ball over just nine times, however Oral Roberts was just a smidgen better across the board. The Golden Eagles hit 47.5 percent overall and committed just seven turnovers and outrebounded the smaller Jaguars 39-37. Bell-Holter, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, had 12 rebounds and eight points and Summit League Newcomer of the Year Steven Roundtree had nine points and eight caroms. Both were forced to the sidelines midway through the second half as they received their fourth fouls on the same IUPUI offensive possession. However, little used Tim Morton gave ORU a lift with four points and two rebounds in five minutes off the bench.

Siakam hit 10-of-17 shots as IUPUI made a concerted effort to pound the ball inside against the Golden Eagles. Eight of Siakam's 15 boards came off the offensive glass as the two teams combined to score 35 second chance points. Young was 9-of-20 and overtook current NBAer George Hill for the No. 5 spot on IUPUI's all-time scoring list. He became IUPUI's top scorer at the NCAA Division I level in the process. Hunter was asked whether Young will follow in Hill's footsteps and test the NBA waters during the spring.

"He has to consider his options and he'll have to weigh some options," Hunter said. "We'd love to have him come back, obviously. It's different now, than with George (Hill). You basically have to declare by the Final Four and you don't have Orlando (Pre-Draft Camp) to go to. The window is much, much smaller now."

Nobles moved up to seventh on IUPUI's career scoring list and pulled even with Akeem Clark for fifth on the school's all-time list with 186 makes from behind the arc. The Louisville-native hit 3-of-5 triples on Monday and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line.

IUPUI will now play the waiting game, hoping for a possible bid to the NIT, CBI or CIT. The Jaguars earned a spot in the CBI last season, picking up a first round win at Hofstra before losing to Princeton in a double-overtime thriller in The Jungle. The Jaguars have many things working in their favor including an RPI around 105, 19 victories and a potential NBA player on the roster. Hunter was hesitant to predict if the Jaguars will receive a call.

"It's one of those things I quit trying to predict. Beyond the NCAA Tournament, it's all political. The league has to do a better job with its RPI and I think we've done that. Now we'll just have to wait and see."