INDIANAPOLIS - The almighty three-point line proved to be the enemy as the IUPUI basketball team fell at home to Purdue Fort Wayne inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Thursday night (Jan. 12), 70-55. IUPUI connected on just one three and saw the visiting Mastodons connect on 11-of-31 hoists from deep. 

Graduate transfer Chris Osten paced a balanced IUPUI attack with 12 points and eight rebounds and both Jlynn Counter and DJ Jackson finished with nine points each. Vincent Brady II closed with seven points. Jarred Godfrey had 22 points for the victors and Deonte Billups closed with 15 points. 

IUPUI (3-15, 0-7 HL) outrebounded the Mastodons by a 36-32 margin, cut down their turnovers to just 12 miscues and held Purdue Fort Wayne (12-6, 4-3 HL) under 40 percent for the game, but was ultimately outgunned from deep. The Jaguars' lone trey was a Brady make late in the first half. 

"We just didn't make shots, plain and simple. We let some of their guys get going early and it's really hard to match when you're getting twos and giving up threes. That was a veteran team that knows how to play together and we're playing a lot of new guys who are still figuring our what college basketball is all about," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "I liked our fight. We didn't back down and in fact, I thought we punched back.

"We've got a lot more basketball to play, so I think our guys learned a lot about themselves tonight."

Purdue Fort Wayne's first four field goals of the night came from beyond the arc, but IUPUI was still even at 12 all after Daylan Hamilton made a pair of free throws. A 9-0 PFW run made it 21-12, capped by a Billups three, before Hamilton and Marlon Taylor got back-to-back buckets. 

As was the story all night, each time IUPUI made a move, the Mastodons countered with a trey. IUPUI trailed 34-28 with 18:11 left when Jackson banked in a runner, but the guests fired back with six straight to push their lead to 12. 

IUPUI closed within five on two different occasions, but never got closer that two possessions. 

Osten continued his efficient work on the inside, hitting 6-of-8 shots to fuel IUPUI's 36-22 edge in points in the paint. Jackson finished with a career-high nine as he was reinserted into the starting five while Counter handed out a game-high five assists against just one turnover. 

Hamilton added five boards and three steals and freshman Amhad Jarrard delivered four assists from the lead guard spot. 

IUPUI will return to action when the Jaguars host Cleveland State on Saturday (Jan. 14) at noon inside the Coliseum.