MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The IUPUI basketball team completely erased a 15-point halftime deficit but was then outscored 14-7 in the final three-plus minutes as the Jaguars fell on the road to Robert Morris, 77-70. Graduate transfer Chris Osten tallied a career-high 21 points in the loss and sophomore Jlynn Counter tossed in 14 points in 17 minutes. 

Kahliel Spear led Robert Morris (8-9, 3-3 HL) with 22 points and 10 rebounds and teammate Michael Green III also closed with a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. 

"I thought we showed a lot of heart and grit tonight," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "We got down big at halftime and honestly, we never quit. We really had some guys step up make some big time plays to get us back in the game. We still had some key turnovers and missed some key free throws late in the game and that was the difference. 

"We need to cut down some of the careless turnovers and we'll continue to work on that, but I think some of our freshmen really grew up tonight."

IUPUI (3-14, 0-6 HL) trailed 44-29 at the break as RMU's Josh Corbin capped a 7-0 run to end the half with a wing three at the final horn. IUPUI scored the first six points of the second half to start the long road back, getting buckets from Counter sandwiched around an Amhad Jarrard layup. 

Vincent Brady II and Jarrard connected on back-to-back threes to pull IUPUI within one with 8:06 left, prompting an RMU timeout. IUPUI finally got even with 4:26 left when Osten banked in a leaner, making it 61 all. The two teams traded buckets with Osten scoring again with 3:37 remaining before RMU pulled away late. 

Enoch Cheeks splashed a go-ahead trey with 3:16 left and after an IUPUI turnover, Spear dropped in a layup with 2:39 to play to make it a two-possession game. IUPUI committed another turnover trying to feed the post and Spear was fouled at the other end, ultimately pushing the lead to six. 

IUPUI began fouling to extend the game, but RMU was nearly perfect at the free throw line down the stretch in salting the win. 

Robert Morris outscored IUPUI 24-17 at the free throw line as Spear alone earned 13 attempts. Both Cheeks and Corbin closed with 16 points as RMU shot 49 percent from the floor. 

IUPUI closed at 46.2 percent overall and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from three-point range. The Jags won the glass by a 35-26 margin, but committed 17 turnovers and forced just 11 RMU miscues. The end result was an 18-8 deficit in points off turnovers. 

Counter was relegated to spectator duty down the stretch due to an injury as Daylan Hamilton emerged with 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench. Jarrard had nine points and five assists and Brady closed with eight points and six rebounds. 

IUPUI will now head home for a four-game homestand, beginning against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday night (Jan. 12) at 7:00 p.m inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Bob Lovell (analyst) and fans can purchase tickets to that contest by clicking here.