INDIANAPOLIS - North Dakota State senior guard Lawrence Alexander scored seven of his game-high 24 points in overtime as the visiting Bison held off the Jaguars, 69-61 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Thursday night (Jan. 22). After neither side led by more than four points in regulation, NDSU (13-6, 5-1 Summit) scored on its first six possessions of overtime to ultimately build a nine-point lead en route to the overtime win. 

It was the fourth time IUPUI (7-13, 3-3) has gone to overtime in seven home games, slipping to 2-2 in those outcomes. Aaron Brennan and P.J. Boutte led IUPUI with 10 points each while seniors Khufu Najee and DavRon Williams tallied nine apiece. Junior Mason Archie, II turned in eight points and just missed a fallaway at the final horn of regulation that would've sent the Jaguars to another thrilling victory. 

"They made plays (in overtime) and we didn't," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "Alexander made some tough plays for them and we didn't answer back like we needed to. That's what makes him a really good player. He was able to go get them baskets when they needed them.

"Our guys aren't going to hang their heads because we've got to come back and be ready for South Dakota on Saturday. I thought we played well in stretches tonight, but it just wasn't enough."

IUPUI had a prime opportunity to end the game in regulation, owning possession after Kory Brown was called for traveling with 32.2 seconds left. IUPUI tried to isolate Marcellus Barksdale on the blocks against a smaller NDSU defender, but the Bison forced the ball out of his hands and deflected his cross court pass out of bounds with 0.8 seconds left. After a timeout, IUPUI inbounded to Archie on the right wing, who had his catch-and-shoot delivery hit just off the back rim as the regulation horn sounded. 

Alexander immediately set the tone in overtime, scoring on identical looking back-to-back drives to give the Bison a quick 57-53 lead. IUPUI cut the lead back to three when Najee split a pair of free throws, but redshirt freshman A.J. Jacobson came through with a dagger, swishing an open three from near the top of the key to put the guests ahead by six. IUPUI closed within four on a Najee jumper, but the Bison got a Chris Kading dunk and Carlin Dupree tip-in on their next two trips to put the game away. 

"We didn't get stops when we needed them," Gardner said. "We gave them a lot of second shots, which is something we've been good about limiting most of the year. Tonight, it really hurt us."

NDSU collected 12 offensive boards and converted them into 17 second chance points. The Bison finished the night shooting 46 percent overall and 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point range. Alexander went 9-of-17 overall while both Jacobson and Dexter Werner chipped in 10 points apiece. Kading added six points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Bison outscored the Jaguars 34-18 in the paint. 

"They made it tough on us inside," Gardner said. "I think we missed some shots we normally make, but they did a good job of packing it in and being physical with us, which I think forced us to miss some shots."

IUPUI started the game by making seven of its first 10 shots before finishing at 41.2 percent overall. The Jaguars hit 6-of-15 (40 percent) from three-point range, including three connections from Boutte. 

The loss dropped IUPUI to 7-8 all-time against NDSU and 3-5 in games in Indianapolis. Thursday's defeat was IUPUI's fifth straight loss to the Bison. 

IUPUI will continue the two-game Summit League homestand on Saturday (Jan. 24) when the Jaguars host South Dakota inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. That game will be televised on HTSN and ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call. In addition, the game can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM and iHeartRadio as Will Flemming (pxp) will be on the call. Fans planning on attending Saturday's game are asked to allow some additional time for high traffic around the Coliseum as the Fairgrounds will also be hosting the Indianapolis Home Show. 

IUPUI's Hall of Fame Class of 2015 will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game, while IUPUI players will be wearing pink socks in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. In addition, Regions Bank will be giving away a bike at halftime of the game and Junior Jags members will be invited down on the court afterwards to shoot baskets, sponsored by Gander Mountain.