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INDIANAPOLIS - Despite hosting a game in the middle of finals week, the IUPUI basketball team was hoping to not be severely tested on Tuesday (Dec. 11) when it welcomed IU Northwest to The Jungle.

That wasn't the case.

IUPUI was able to hold off IU Northwest for a 65-59 win behind 18 points from John Hart and an 8-point, 19-rebound effort from Lyonell Gaines, but it was far from easy.

Brandon Grubl and Devin Ellis scored 21 each for IUN (4-11). IUPUI needed to make key plays down the stretch to improve to 3-1 at home this season and snap a current four-game losing streak.

"We dodged a bullet," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "It's finals week and we just really haven't had the opportunity to have good practices. Even when we do, we don't have everyone going in practice. What I did like is that we found something within ourselves that allowed us to get the win. This very easily could've gone the other way."

The home court felt anything like an advantage from the outset right down to the host Jaguars wearing their road black uniforms. The Jaguars missed their first eight field goal attempts and turned the ball over four times in the first five minutes, but still led 4-2 after Hart finally swished a three from the right wing. IU-Northwest took advantage of the Jaguars' shooting woes and rattled off five straight points to take a 7-4 lead.

That lead held for nearly 20 minutes and grew as high as nine when at the 3:34 mark of the first half when Grubl completed a three-point play on a drive down the right side.

IUPUI (4-8) rattled off eight straight to pull within one at 27-26, but the visiting RedHawks scored the final five of the half including a Grubl trey to take a 32-26 halftime lead. Junior Ian Chiles, playing just his second game of the season, sparked the 8-0 run with a runner and a steal near midcourt that resulted in him splitting a pair of free throws after being fouled on the fast break.

All total, IUPUI hit just 28 percent from the floor and 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) three-point attempts before halftime while the guests hit an even 50 percent from the floor. Ellis was nearly unstoppable in the first stanza, hitting for 18 of his 21 on 7-of-10 shooting.

The second half saw both teams scoring at ease at the start of the half, with the Jaguars getting the better end of the deal. Still, IUPUI didn't manage any breathing room until Jordan Shanklin swished a three with 10:25 to play to build a 50-44 lead.

Even that was short lived.

It was a 58-56 IUPUI lead with 2:04 left after Adam White hit a pair of free throws, but the Jaguars ultimately made winning plays down the stretch. The first came on the ensuing offensive trip as the Jaguars opted to milk the clock before Shanklin was left with an open three with four on the shot clock. His shot was off the mark, but junior Donovan Gibbs collected the offensive rebound along the endline, allowing the Jags to recycle the offense. Given second life, Chiles cashed in with a twisting three-point play with 1:04 remaining.

At the defensive end, Chiles picked off an errant White pass, leading to Shanklin splitting a pair of free throws with 42.6 seconds left. Grubl misfired on a contested three and Chiles climbed the ladder for the defensive board and also split a pair of free throws to make it a three possession game. After Ellis swished a trey for his lone second half field goal, Hart iced the game at the charity stripe to cap the scoring.

Hart was 6-of-14 overall and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line while Chiles added 15 points, five boards and four steals off the bench. Senior Greg Rice hit two timely threes to account for his six points and delivered a game-high four assists.

Gaines was a one-man wrecking ball on the glass, grabbing 10 of his career-high 19 boards at the offensive end. His 19 caroms were one shy of tying the program's single-game record and were the most by an IUPUI player since Michael Boles grabbed 20 against IU South Bend in March 1993. He edged Odell Bradley's previous mark of 18 rebounds for the a single-game record in the Division I era (1998-present).

Gaines' board work helped the Jags to a 15-4 edge in second chance points and a 24-18 lead in points in the paint. He and Gibbs played the majority of the minutes up front as the team's second-leading scorer, junior center Mitchell Patton, missed his second consecutive game due to injury. However, Gibbs was relegated to just 19 minutes on Tuesday due to foul trouble, forcing Howard to play 6-foot-3 Sean Esposito in the frontcourt.

Grubl was 7-of-16 overall and grabbed a team-high nine boards in the loss.

IUPUI improved to 10-1 all-time against IU Northwest and is a perfect 4-0 this season when outrebounding the opposition. The victory also snapped the Jaguars' four-game losing skid.

IUPUI will continue the two-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 15 when the Jaguars host Indiana State in a regionally televised game in The Jungle. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. with Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) on the call on HTSN (RTV6.2). In addition, the game can be heard in the Indianapolis-area on 1260 WNDE, WNDE.com and through the free iHeartRadio app as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action from courtside with pregame coverage beginning right at 7.

Fans planning on attending the contest are urged to arrive early as only a limited number of tickets remain. For presale tickets, please contact John Rasmussen at jrrasmus@iupui.edu or 317-274-5453. The box office will open at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and the doors will open at 6.