FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team left the Gates Sports Center battered and bloody on Sunday night (Jan. 4), but the Jaguars found the fight well worth it as they opened Summit League play with a stunning 63-58 win over Fort Wayne. IPFW (7-8, 0-2 Summit) was the league's preseason favorite while the Jaguars were picked to finish last according to the preseason polls. 

None of that mattered on Sunday though as junior Marcellus Barksdale scored a game-high 19 points and freshman Aaron Brennan added 12 as IUPUI opened league play with a win for the first time since 2010. IUPUI held IPFW's top scorer Steve Forbes to just four points and four boards on 0-of-5 shooting as Joe Edwards paced the hosts with 17 points. Junior reserve Michael Calder added 12 points for the 'Dons in the loss. 

It was the Jaguars' first Summit League road win since the 2011-12 season. 

"I thought it was a really good, hard fought basketball game," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "I thought our guys really fought for 40 minutes tonight and that's what we did. We withstood some of their runs and threw some shots of our own and that's what we had to do to get the win. Our guys were really tough tonight, especially to go and get a win on the road.

"Any time you get a win on the road, you've had to earn it. Our guys were up to the challenge tonight."

IUPUI (5-10, 1-0) played its best basketball of the season in the opening 20 minutes, punctuated by a 15-3 rally to close the half to build a 34-25 lead. The Jaguars held the 'Dons to just one field goal over the final eight-plus minutes, while shooting 52 percent overall before intermission. Barksdale capped the scoring with a three-point play on the Jaguars' final possession and had a team-high seven points before the break. 

IUPUI scored the first four points of the second half and eventually stretched the lead out to 14 early in the second half on a layup from Brennan with 16:08 to play. IPFW's quick strike offense immediately responded with a 10-0 run, including five points from Calder, but the Jaguars refused to relinquish the lead.

Calder pulled IPFW within one at 45-44 with 9:15 left, but Elijah Ray dropped in an easy layup to keep the Jags in front. Later, Barksdale hit IUPUI's lone three of the night at the 6:51 mark, making it a two possession game. The Jaguars extended the lead to 56-48 with 3:38 remaining on a pair of Barksdale free throws, but had to scrap late to salvage the win. 

Max Landis trimmed the lead back to six at the foul line and when Khufu Najee misfired on a quick three, IPFW had a chance to further cut into the lead but a mad scramble resulted in a DavRon Williams steal along the baseline. IPFW recaptured momentum late, including a Landis steal and jumper with 66 seconds left that made it a two-point game. However, Barksdale deposited a key three-point play with 33.6 seconds to play and the shot clock winding down. From there the Jaguars made four free throws in the final 15 seconds to claim the win.

"We made plays late," Gardner said. "(Barksdale)'s three-point play was a big time play. We wanted something going to the basket and he just stepped up and made a play and that's what upperclassmen are supposed to do."

Barksdale hit 6-of-10 shots and handled the bulk of the lead guard duties in his 37 minutes of action. His ball-handling became even more important when Najee was knocked out of the game late in the first half after getting tangled with an IPFW defender. Barksdale also took a shot late in the game, prompting the game to be stopped momentarily to clean some blood from his lip.

Brennan was an efficient 6-of-7 from the field and collected three steals while Najee and Williams both added eight points apiece. Williams also grabbed a team-high seven boards before fouling out. Landis and McCray tallied nine points each for the Dons with the latter also grabbing nine boards. IPFW finished at just 36 percent from the field and 7-of-20 (35 percent) from three-point range. 

"I thought we really defended well today," Gardner said. "We had a pretty good scout on them and did a good job of executing it for 40 minutes. It was important that we stuck to the gameplan."

IUPUI lost the glass 33-29, but won the game in the paint, outscoring the bigger Dons 36-18 on the interior. IUPUI also converted seven offensive boards into 15 second chance points. Offensively, IUPUI turned it over a season-low seven times, leading to just seven IPFW points. 

The win stopped a four-game losing streak against IPFW. 

The Jaguars will continue the current stretch of five consecutive road games at Oral Roberts on Wednesday (Jan. 7) when they take on Oral Roberts inside the Mabee Center. Tip-off for that game is slated for 8:00 p.m. Eastern and the broadcast will be heard on WNDE 1260 AM and the free iHeartRadio app as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call. In addition, the game will be televised nationally on ESPN3.