INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team capped the 2015-16 regular season with an 80-77 win over Fort Wayne on Senior Day inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum, fueled by Darell Combs' 31-point, eight assist effort. The Jaguars staved off a late threat from the visiting Mastodons as senior sharpshooter Max Landis missed a pair of potential game-tying three-point attempts in the final seconds before Mason Archie collected the game's final rebound.

"I'm proud of our guys and I'm glad we won this for our seniors," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "I thought we were really resilient today. We did a good job of guarding them, especially in the second half, and we kind of fed off the energy in the building.

"More than anything, now we go into the (Summit League) tournament on a positive note and feeling good about how we played today. I thought we did a great job of moving the basketball today and taking high percentage shots. It's our second straight game with more than 20 assists, so I like what we've been doing offensively. We were unselfish and trying to find the open man the entire game."

IUPUI (13-18, 9-7 Summit) built an 11-point lead with under seven minutes to play and made enough critical plays down the stretch to fend off the Mastodons. However, the guests clawed back within 76-74 with 1:21 to play when Michael Calder sliced his way to the cup for a layup. On the Jaguars ensuing possession, Jordan Pickett missed a contested right-handed layup, but Matt O'Leary popped up on the weakside and tipped in the miss, giving the Jags a two-possession cushion. The Dons refused to go away though as Landis was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three freebies with 44 seconds left. On the Jaguars next trip, Nick Osborne was stripped on his way to the rim with one second left on the shot clock, giving the Jaguars possession under their own basket with 15 seconds remaining. The tandem of Combs and Marcellus Barksdale made it work though as the junior lobbed a pass to the senior, who scored in one motion to make it a three-point lead.

Without a timeout, IPFW raced into the frontcourt when Landis misfired on a 35-footer. The long rebound ultimately came back to Landis, but his final attempt went wide and Archie sealed the win.

"We made some plays down the stretch," Gardner said. "I thought Marcellus stepped up and made some big time plays and even Mason getting that last rebound was a big time play. We got contributions from everyone today, which is what it will take to be successful in the tournament. Darell is playing at a really high level right now, but he also did a good job of getting everyone involved."

The first half was a good ole fashioned shootout between Landis and Combs as the duo combined on 37 points and eight triples in the opening 20 minutes. Landis' fourth three of the opening half, a 30-foot bomb, put IPFW ahead 29-20 with 8:43 left before halftime. However, Combs responded with a traditional three-point play and followed by swishing a trey with a defender in his face, although his was immediately whistled for a technical for taunting the Dons' bench in the process. The Jaguars later closed the half with a 13-4 run, grabbing a 41-39 lead by the break.

The second half saw Combs contribute to the first five buckets of the stanza, delivering three assists and draining a pair of triples. He set up both Evan Hall and Aaron Brennan for buckets early buckets, including two-in-a-row for the sophomore forward. Brennan stuck a 16-footer on one trip, then followed with a one-handed dunk off pick-and-roll action near the elbow.

Combs hit for 21 of his game-high 31 points in the first half and finished the game 6-of-7 from three-point range. The Jags closed the contest at 9-of-15 (60 percent) from deep while limiting Fort Wayne to just 35 percent on 9-of-26 shooting. O'Leary deposited 12 points, nine assists, five steals and four boards while Barksdale finished with 10 points, all in the second half. Archie ended his final career home game with four points and three rebounds, but drew the assignment of guarding Landis for much of the game. Freshman T.J. Henderson turned in an important eight points off the bench, including a pair of threes.

IUPUI's offense was impressive throughout, delivering a season-high 25 assists on 29 field goals as O'Leary and Combs teamed on 17 dimes. The Jags shot an efficient 52 percent overall while holding Fort Wayne under 45 percent overall and under 42 percent in the second half. Landis, the national leader in three-point shooting, sank his first four of his first five three-point attempts but finished 4-of-13 from deep.

With the win, IUPUI clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Summit League Tournament and earned a series sweep of the Mastodons. IUPUI will take on North Dakota State at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday night (Mar. 6) inside the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.. That game will be heard on 107.5 FM as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call. Pregame coverage will begin at approximately 6:45 p.m..