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MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois freshman Remy Roberts-Burnett swished a three from the left wing over Alex Young's outstretched arm with 0.5 seconds left to send the host Leathernecks to a 57-55 win over IUPUI inside Western Hall on Saturday (Jan. 28) night. Young finished with a game-high 22 points in the loss but it was the WIU rookie that stole the show with 11 key points off the bench. The game-winner was the first made three of the Joliet, Ill.-native's young college career.

Ceola Clark led Western (12-8, 6-5 Summit) with 20 points, nine boards and eight assists and Terell Parks added 14 points and six caroms in the win. IUPUI (8-15, 2-9 Summit) senior Christian Siakam scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as Young sat for an extended period with three personal fouls and was the only other Jaguar to finish in double-digits.

"That was a winning effort," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "They hit a tough, challenged shot with 0.5 seconds left. What can you say? We got the ball out of (Ceola) Clark's hand.

"I thought our press was super late in the game and (Christian) Siakam and (Alex) Young were outstanding."

The loss was IUPUI's seventh straight and first in Macomb since Jan. 15, 2000.

"We have played well enough to win every one of these games," Howard said. "That's what is hard to take. We played a great 40 minute game but we haven't gotten a break all year. It will come."

The final three minutes were filled with high drama, culminating in Roberts-Burnett's game-winner. After Parks put the hosts in front 51-47 with a two-handed tomahawk dunk, IUPUI immediately answered with a Young three-point play. The Jaguars then forced a turnover with its full court press defense, when Siakam collected an easy steal off an errant Tommie Tyler pass. IUPUI then capitalized with a go-ahead Young 15-foot pull-up jumper.  

Trailing by one, WIU head coach Jim Molinari called timeout and drew up a nifty set, resulting in Clark splashing a three with 2:29 remaining. Not to be outdone, Young answered with a trey of his own at the other end with the shot clock winding down to put IUPUI in front 55-54 with two minutes to play.

IUPUI got a defensive stand when Clark missed a three from the left wing and Young skied to gather the defensive rebound. The teams traded empty possessions with Young missing on a tough drive and Western turning the ball over on a backcourt violation with 58.4 seconds left.

Leading by one, IUPUI opted to drain the shot clock before looking at the rim on what ultimately ended up being their final possession of the night. Young drove hard to his left but missed on the shot attempt before Siakam grabbed the offensive board. The fifth-year senior kicked it out to Ian Chiles, who was planted at the three-point line. However, Parks stole the ball away from the sophomore guard, giving Western possession.

With two fouls to give, Stephen Thomas grabbed Clark intentionally as he crossed midcourt, forcing Western to inbound the ball along the sideline with 4.7 seconds left. After the two teams traded timeouts, an unguarded Roberts-Burnett inbounded the ball to Clark before receiving a return pass and swishing the shot as the horn sounded. The officials put 0.5 seconds back on the clock, but Young's desperation heave hit off the top of the backboard as time expired.

Roberts-Burnett, who missed the first meeting between the two schools, hit 5-of-7 shots off the bench for his 11 points while top scorer Obi Emegano was limited to just 10 points.

Not much went right in the first half for the Jaguars, who were in search of road win number one on the year.

The game began with Western shooting a pair of free throws after IUPUI was whistled for a technical foul before the contest started. The Jaguars answered with an 8-2 run to take an 8-4 lead, but the Leathernecks came back with 12 of the game's next 14 points to go in front by six. 

Despite never getting fully even before halftime, the Jaguars captured some momentum at the final horn when Marcellus Barksdale swished a three as time expired to cut the lead back to 28-24. IUPUI's 24 points were the team's fewest since scoring 23 at Milwaukee in the third game of the season.

Only three Jags scored in the second half as Young and Siakam combined to score 27 points and Chiles scored four points on back-to-back jumpers midway through the stanza. IUPUI finished the game shooting just 42.1 percent from the floor while Western hit better than 51 percent overall. Siakam was 7-of-8 from the field and Young hit 9-of-18 attempts, leaving the rest of the squad to hit just 7-of-20 overall. The Jaguars won the glass for the third straight game, outrebounding WIU 26-20 led by Siakam's eight boards.

IUPUI will return home for back-to-back home games beginning with a Wednesday (Feb. 1) night tilt against Oakland at 7:00 p.m. inside The Jungle. That game can be heard in Indianapolis on WNDE 1260 or online at wnde.com. Scott McCauley's (pxp) call can also be heard via the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones. The game will be broadcast as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service available on IUPUIJags.com.