INDIANAPOLIS - In front of a lively crowd at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the Jaguars avenged a 30-point loss to Fort Wayne from earlier in the season with an 83-82 victory on their home court. The win was the second-in-a-row for the Jaguars (13-16, 7-8 Summit), and was their third win in the last four games against the Mastodons (18-11, 7-8).
 
"I thought our crowd was amazing, I thought they really brought the energy," Head Coach Jason Gardner said praising the fans after the game. "Our guys did a really good job of sticking to the gameplan, and I was pleased with how they stayed locked in and competitive throughout the game."
 
After a first half that featured 12 lead changes, the two teams went into the locker rooms tied at 35 all. The Mastodons made the first run of the half, and built a 52-46 lead with 14:12 remaining in the game.

Enter Darell Combs.

The senior guard reeled off three consecutive trifectas and added a pair of free throws to put the Jags up 57-52, capping an 11-0 of his own.
 
"I was in a box," Combs laughed after the game, "I felt like I was out there by myself. I was locked in, and I really wanted to win. They beat us pretty good up in Fort Wayne, and I felt like we needed a jump to get us going, so I took over."
 
The Jaguars carried the momentum started by Combs, and stretched their lead to 67-57. After Matt O'Leary's and-one layup increased the margin to 10, an altercation between the two teams broke out after an accidental celebration by O'Leary made contact with a Fort Wayne player. Two technical fouls were assessed to each team, and the game proceeded on without further incident.
 
"It wasn't meant with any harm," Gardner said after the game, "I think when it's a competitive games teams can get caught up in the heat of the moment, and that's what happened tonight. No harm done on either side."
 
"It was accident, I just got excited and accidentally hit his eye during the fist pump." O'Leary said after the game.
 
The Jaguars maintained their composure after the following media timeout, and took a 74-64 lead into the final timeout with 3:54 remaining. The Mastodons rallied back, cutting the lead to 77-74 with just under two minutes to go, but the Jaguars never relinquished the lead. The Jaguars were able to convert their free throws down the stretch, getting big makes from O'Leary, Kellon Thomas, D.J. McCall and Ron Patterson.
 
"I think early in the season we would stress a little bit in that situation and get away from our game, but tonight it shows the leadership from our seniors to keep our guys focused on the court and in the huddles." Gardner said.
 
The Jaguars were led in scoring by Combs, whose hot second half contributed to his game-high 20 points. O'Leary added 14 points, five boards and five steals for the Jags and Thomas chipped in with 11 points of his own. Patterson added 11 points off the bench while Evan Hall also had eight for the second unit. On top of the scoring punch provided by the Jags, they were also able to stay active on the defensive side of the ball by forcing 23 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half.
 
"I thought we did a great job flying around and getting in the passing lanes. Our scrambles were pretty good today, and a lot of it had to do with guys flying around and getting deflections," Gardner said of the effort, "Getting deflections helped us get out on the fastbreak for good opportunities tonight."
 
Kason Harell led the Mastodons in scoring with 19 points and Brent Calhoun added 18. John Konchar had 14 while Bryson Scott and Mo Evans had 12 & 11 points, respectively.

IUPUI will cap the regular season on Saturday night (Feb. 25) when the Jaguars host South Dakota at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tickets are available via TicketMaster and fans can enter the coupon code "IUPUI" to save $5 off price of adult ticket. The evening will be presented by Indiana Members Credit Union and the IUPUI Athletics Department will recognize the senior group of Josh James, Grant Sinn, Combs, O'Leary and Thomas immediately after Saturday's game. 

The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call. In addition, the game will be heard on 97.5 Fox Sports FM, 1260 WNDE and the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) describes the action.