INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team fell just short of sealing a second straight Horizon League win on Saturday (Jan. 17) as the Jaguars fell at home to Detroit Mercy, 80-77. Junior Kyler D'Augustino led five Jags in double-digits with a game-high 20 points and Finley Woodward added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists in the loss. 

Freshman Tyler Spratt paced UDM (8-10, 5-4 HL) with 16 points and eight rebounds as six different Titans finished with 10 points or more. 

Offensively, the Jaguars (5-16, 1-9 HL) wove stretches of brilliance and stretches of stagnation throughout, the latter of which plagued the squad down the stretch. After trailing at the break, IU Indy cranked up the defensive pressure in the second half, building a 60-54 lead with 9:00 to play when Maguire Mitchell scored in close after a Micah Davis miss. After a defensive stop, the Jags had a chance to push the lead to nine, but saw Mitchell misfire on a corner three. UDM had an immediate counter when Lance Stone swished a three at the other end, making it a one-possession game. The Stone three ignited a 14-2 run that Davis finally stopped with a runner at the 4:24 mark. 

The Titans re-established a six-point lead, leaving the Jaguars to chase the game down the stretch. 

Back-to-back Woodward and Jaxon Edwards layups sandwiched around a Stone free throw had the deficit down to one possession in the final minute. After UDM's Jared Lary split a pair of foul shots, Mitchell retaliated by swishing a three with 20 seconds to play to make it a one-point game. UDM made two free throws and then opted to foul, leading by three in the closing seconds. 

Woodward split a pair and UDM's Orlando Lovejoy made two freebies to seal the game. Mitchell swished a long three with 0.9 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late. 

Mitchell's two treys in the final minute were the Jaguars lone connections in the second half as they finished 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from deep in the final 20 minutes and 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) for the game. The Jaguars outshot Detroit Mercy, finishing at 46.4 percent overall while limiting Detroit Mercy to 39.3 percent. 

"We're a lot of games into the season and we should be further ahead than where we are," head coach Ben Howlett said. "(The press) pays dividends for us a lot. We turned the ball over to the other team quite a bit, and we just have to get better at capitalizing off those turnovers."

IU Indy surged out to an 18-8 lead in the opening seven minutes, fueled in part by back-to-back Davis threes. When the Jags scored, the full-court press made life difficult for the Titans, prompting an earlier timeout. However, the Titans rebounded to tie the score at 22 all before ultimately taking a 38-34 halftime lead. 

Edwards finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Davis finished with 12 points and four assists. Mitchell finished with 10 before fouling out. 

The loss gave UDM a regular season series sweep of the Jaguars. 

IU Indy will return to action on Wednesday (Jan. 21) when they trek to Oakland University for a 7:00 p.m. tip. The game will be seen on ESPN+ or heard locally on 1430 Indy's Sports Ticket.