INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team kicked off all of college basketball with a home court win over visiting Spalding on Monday (Nov. 6), 70-63, before a record setting crowd of 4,867 on NCAA 'Readers Become Leaders' Day. Junior Jlynn Counter tallied a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Abdou Samb added 10 points and four boards off the bench in the win. 

"It was very exciting, just being out (there)," graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels said following his IUPUI debut. "It was definitely exciting with all the kids. I'm just happy we got the win, really. 

"We played together as a team. We've got things to work on, but excited we got the win today."

Anthony Dillard paced three Spalding players in double-digits with 19 points and eight rebounds. 

IUPUI shot a respectable 43.1 percent from the floor and led from wire-to-wire against the NCAA Division III opponent. 

The Coliseum was lively from the outset as elementary school kids began piling into their seats nearly an hour before the 11:00 a.m. tipoff, which marked the first game in the nation for the 2023-24 season. The Jaguars didn't disappoint, surging out to a 12-2 lead in the opening six-plus minutes. The lead stayed in double-digits for the bulk of the first half before Spalding cut it to 33-25 at the break. 

IUPUI (1-0) tried to land an early knockout blow behind Counter, but consistently saw the Golden Eagles counterpunch to keep within striking distance. An 11-0 run pushed the lead out to 64-47 with 6:50 to play as DJ Jackson scored six points during the burst and John Egbuta capped it with a driving layup on the left side. 

The Jaguars went scoreless over the final three-plus minutes with the outcome in hand as Spalding cut the final margin to seven. 

Vincent Brady II, Jackson and Kidtrell Blocker all finished with eight points and Qwanzi Samuels and Yves Nkomba closed with six apiece in starting roles. Samuels grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in 22 minutes. 

"It felt being out there with the team. We went through a lot of obstacles but, just overcoming them and we got the dub today," Blocker said. "We're still getting into our roles, but I just feel like there's chemistry overall."

IUPUI held Spalding to 42 percent shooting and just 2-of-10 from three-point range. The Jaguars bench scored 30 of the team's 70 points as reserve firepower came in the form of Samb, Brady and Jackson. Jackson's eight points came in under 12 minutes on 3-of-6 shooting. 

IUPUI will return to action on Friday (Nov. 10) when it treks to Valparaiso for an 8:00 p.m. Central (9 Eastern) tip-off on ESPN+.