Box Score  I Box Score (.html) I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Fort Wayne senior Frank Gaines hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left in overtime to cap a three-point possession, sending the host Mastodons to an 80-79 thriller inside the Gates Sports Center on Saturday (Jan. 26) night.

IUPUI (6-18, 1-9 Summit) took its only lead in overtime with 18 seconds left when Greg Rice picked off a pass near midcourt and raced the other way for a twisting layup, putting the Jaguars in front 79-77. Fort Wayne called timeout, and on the sideline out of bounds play, IPFW's Joe Edwards drew a foul on Sean Esposito with 7.7 seconds left. The sophomore guard hit the first but misfired on the second. However, he was able to track down the long rebound in the corner after a mad scramble. Rather than force the action, Edwards hit Gaines cutting down the middle of the lane, who was fouled by Donovan Gibbs at the front of the rim.

The IPFW lefty calmly hit both attempts to finish with a game-high 29 points.

Given 3.1 seconds with which to work, IUPUI inbounded the ball to Rice in the backcourt on a dead sprint, but the veteran's running 35-footer was well wide left as the final horn sounded.

Junior Mitchell Patton led IUPUI with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Gibbs added 17 points and seven caroms. Rice finished with 16 points and four assists and Esposito closed with 10 and four boards.

Luis Jacobo tallied 13 points for the 'Dons before fouling out and Edwards contributed 12 off the bench.

"We really played hard. We battled. We had three guys throw up at halftime and we fought through it. We really battled and showed some heart and grit," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "We didn't get the rebounds when we needed them and that was the game.

"With all the adversity we've been dealt with, it's amazing to not only see guys give 100 percent, but right now, they're a group that is as upset as I've seen. They hurt because they care. We had five guys practice on Tuesday. We had three guys throw up (tonight). (Our guys) gave all they had for themselves and for their teammates."

Rice and Esposito both played 42 minutes while Gibbs played 41 as Howard's squad is down to just seven scholarship student-athletes.

After leading by four at the break, IUPUI trailed by as many as 15 in the second half and ultimately forced overtime with a pair of Patton free throws with 20.2 seconds left in regulation. IPFW (10-13, 3-6 Summit) called a pair of timeouts, setting up an out of bounds play with 9.3 seconds left. Gaines was isolated out front against Esposito, but was forced to drop the ball off to Mario Hines along the baseline. The 6-foot-7 Gibbs was equal to the task, blocking a layup attempt with less than two seconds left before securing the rebound and sending the game to overtime.

The first half was nip-and-tuck, including 11 lead changes and three ties. However, IUPUI's largest lead of the first half came at the final horn as Patton swished a fallaway jumper on the baseline off an underneath out of bounds play to make it 31-27. The Jaguars opened the second half with an Esposito leaner to push the lead to 33-27, but from there it was all Fort Wayne for the game's next eight minutes.

The hosts rattled off a long-distance onslaught, hitting 5-of-6 threes to start the second half including back-to-back efforts that pushed the lead out to 15 at the 11:37 mark. Jacobo scored 10 points during the stretch, which Gaines continually swished when given the opportunity to fire.

Rather than wilt, the Jaguars called a timeout, regrouped and immediately began the long road back.

IUPUI scored the game's next nine points, four of which came from Rice on hard nosed drives. Later, Esposito made it 60-57 with 5:28 left when he hit his second three of the night and Patton followed with a pair of free throws with exactly 5:00 remaining. Fort Wayne pushed the lead back to four with 2:04 left when Pierre Bland hit a desperation 18-footer as the shot clock expired, but the Jaguars continued the fight.

Patton sliced the lead back in half with a baby hook and the Jaguars got a key turnover when Edwards ran over Jordan Shanklin near the midcourt stripe with 1:18 to play. On the ensuing possession, Esposito missed a rushed wing three with 45 seconds left, but Gibbs tracked down the board for IUPUI's lone offensive rebound of the contest. Given second life, IUPUI dumped the ball inside to Patton, who earned a trip to the foul line and sank the two freebies.

IUPUI finished the game 20-of-25 (80 percent) from the free throw line, including hitting all eight attempts in overtime.

Fort Wayne won the glass 27-20 and outscored the Jaguars 12-2 on second chance points. The Jaguars shot a season-high 62.8 percent from the floor, including making 15-of-22 attempts in the second half and overtime combined. Junior #P.J. Hubert# was IUPUI's top long-range threat, hitting 3-of-5 attempts to account for his nine points.

Fort Wayne was a collective 52 percent from the field and made 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from three-point range. Gaines hit a career-high 6-of-9 treys and Jacobo was 3-of-6 from deep.

The loss was IUPUI's eighth straight and dropped the Jaguars to 0-2 in overtime games this season.

The Jags will now return home with five of the team's final seven regular season games coming inside The Jungle. The next contest will be on Saturday, Feb. 2 when IUPUI hosts Western Illinois at 3:00 p.m. in a regionally televised broadcast on FCS Atlantic and HTSN. Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will call the action. That contest will also be heard on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and on the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones. Pregame coverage will commence around 2:45 p.m..