INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team staved off an upset-minded Cleary University squad inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Saturday (Nov. 25), 78-70 in overtime. Junior Jlynn Counter scored a game-high 21 points and sophomore DJ Jackson added 19 points off the bench in the win. 

Bennie Crenshaw Jr. misfired on a pull-up jumper at the end of regulation with the score tied at 63 all. 

IUPUI outscored Cleary 15-7 in overtime, hitting 4-of-5 shots in the extra stanza as the final eight-point margin represented the Jaguars' largest lead of the game. 

"Coming out of the break, (Cleary) came in ready to play. They stayed in their zone and we didn't adjust well to it," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "DJ stepped up and made plays at the offensive end. That's his game and he did a good job of attacking and finding opportunities to score.

"Bryce made some big-time plays when we needed them and Vince came up with some key shots for us. I'm not sure we deserved to win that game. Now we move on to Horizon League play and put this one behind us." 

IUPUI (3-4) scored the first four points in overtime on a pair of Bryce Monroe free throws and a Jackson steal and transition bucket. After Cleary regained a 68-67 lead with 3:07 to play, IUPUI scored the next seven points, fueled by a Vincent Brady II corner three in front of his own bench. 

The Jaguars benefited from Cleary's struggles at the foul line as the Cougars finished the game 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) overall, including going 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) in overtime. IUPUI was efficient at the stripe, going 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) for the game. 

IUPUI started slowly offensively as Cleary built an early 13-6 lead in the game's opening eight minutes. Jackson capped a 10-0 run with a three-point play to build a 16-13 lead and extended to a five-point lead before Cleary countered with an 8-0 rally to take the lead. The Cougars closed with a 33-27 halftime lead after shooting 60 percent from the floor in the opening half. 

The Jags trailed by as many as eight before finally clawing even at 44 all with 10:49 to play on a Cooper Dewitt pull-up jumper. IUPUI built a 61-55 lead with 3:32 remaining on a Jackson floater and seemed poise to close out the Cougars in regulation, but were unable to do so. 

Cleary scored the game's next eight points, including a pair of Crenshaw go-ahead free throws with 27 seconds left. Monroe tied the game with 22 seconds to play as he rolled in a layup in traffic before the Jags got a stop on the final possession of regulation. 

Monroe finished with 17 points and five assists and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Qwanzi Samuels closed with four points and a career-high 12 rebounds as IUPUI won the glass 34-31.

The win snapped the Jaguars' four-game skid ahead of the start of Horizon League play. 

IUPUI will open league play at Wright State on Wednesday night (Nov. 29) at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.