TULSA, Okla. - The IUPUI basketball team let a late lead slip through its hands in regulation and never regained traction in overtime as the Jaguars dropped a 69-61 Summit League game at Oral Roberts inside Mabee Center on Wednesday night (Jan. 7). ORU's Bobby Word forced overtime with an off-balanced right-wing three and the Golden Eagles' Denell Henderson scored six of his 15 in the extra period to help the hosts to the win. ORU (7-8, 1-1 Summit) guard Korey Billbury led all players with 23 points while senior Khufu Najee paced two Jaguars (5-11, 1-1 Summit) in double-digits with 11 points. Sophomore Justus Stanback, who had just 20 points all season long, tallied a season-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, all after halftime.

"You feel bad because we really let one get away from us tonight. I thought we did a really good job defending and getting back in the game after some of their runs, but we didn't make enough plays down the stretch to finish it off," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "We miss a free throw and they hit a crazy shot at the other end and that really deflated us. I knew it was going to be really hard for us to get going in overtime because they had all the momentum in the world at that point.

"I'm proud of my guys. For us to go on the road and play the way we did shows a lot."

After an even first half, IUPUI was seemingly on the verge of being blown out as ORU built a 41-31 lead in the opening 6:46 after intermission. A Billbury three-point play pushed the hosts out to a double-digit lead, but like they did in the first half, IUPUI immediately fired back with a similar burst. IUPUI scored eight straight and put together an 18-7 run to eventually go in front on a Leo Svete three. Stanback helped power the run, spraying midrange jumpers on pick-and-pops against ORU's bigger defenders.

ORU retook the lead on a Henderson layup, but IUPUI countered with the game's next six points and seemed primed for a second consecutive upset to open league play. The Jaguar freshman duo of D.J. McCall and Aaron Brennan both made huge plays down the stretch to put the Jags in position to win.

With 1:26 left, McCall hit Brennan on a back cut for an easy bucket, putting the Jaguars in front 53-50. On ORU's ensuing possession, McCall blocked a three-point attempt and Brennan won a mad scramble for the rebound before alertly calling timeout from the hardwood. Marcellus Barksdale then hit two free throws to make it 55-50 with 33.8 left, but Billbury immediately countered with an old fashioned three-point play with 26.0 left.

After needing to call back-to-back timeouts to inbound the ball, IUPUI finally got the rock to Barksdale with 13.8 seconds left and an opportunity to ice the win. However, the junior missed the second of two attempts, leaving the door ajar. The Jaguars defended the final possession of regulation well, but Word double pumped before hitting a one-handed trey in front of his own bench for his lone field goal of the contest.

ORU opened the extra session with the first eight points and never looked back, earning an 11th straight win over the Jaguars at the Mabee Center.

"I think we learned a lot about our team tonight," Gardner said. "We're not at all pleased with the loss, but we've got some toughness and heart on this basketball team. They're continuing to learn and grow and that's going to help us long-term. It's hard to win when you shoot 50 percent at the free throw line and turn it over like we did, so those are things we'll continue to work on."

Two long scoring droughts plagued the Jaguars in the first half, but IUPUI still managed to play the Golden Eagles to a 23 all draw in the opening 20 minutes. IUPUI took an early 5-2 lead on a Brennan's second career trey and a Najee floater, but a six-minute scoreless spell saw ORU pull ahead 14-5 on a Billbury 16-footer. Behind DavRon Williams, IUPUI manufactured a quick 10-0 surge to retake the lead, albeit briefly.

Williams scored on the left block on a designed play and then swatted a Billbury drive at the defensive end. Moments later, he scored from nearly the exact same spot, this time off a Mason Archie, II offensive rebound and assist. On the following offensive trip, his kickout pass freed Barksdale for an open trey and Svete capped the run with his first trifecta of the night. IUPUI eventually pulled even by halftime when McCall tipped-in a Williams miss, making the score 23 all at intermission.

IUPUI won the glass 40-33 as six different Jaguars grabbed at least four caroms. However, the Jaguars committed 19 turnovers, including 12 in the first half, leading to 20 ORU points. The Jaguars finished the game shooting a respectable 47 percent from the floor and 6-of-15 (40 percent) from three-point range, while limiting ORU to just 39.3 percent. IUPUI held ORU's top scorer, Obi Emegano, to just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting while Billbury hit 9-of-20 shots to get to 23.

IUPUI will return to Indianapolis to host Denver in The Summit League home opener on Saturday, Jan. 10 for a 1 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on RTV6, HTSN and ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call from courtside. In addition, Will Flemming (pxp) will call the contest on WNDE 1260 AM and the free iHeartRadio app. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster outlets or by contacting the Indiana Farmers Coliseum box office.