Sean Esposito and Alex Young ignited a 12-0 run to start the second half, and IUPUI held on to defeat IPFW 86-77 on Thursday night.
Young made 8 of 12 shots and finished with 23 points, and Stephen Thomas had 19 points (6-of-8 shooting) for the Jaguars (14-10, 8-3 Summit), who shot 57 percent (29 of 51) from the field. Esposito was 6 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc for 18 points.
Frank Gaines led the Mastodons (14-8, 8-4 Summit) with 22 points, and Zach Plackemeier added 16 points.
With IUPUI leading 38-34 to start the second half, Esposito made two 3-pointers - both off assists from Young - as the Jaguars sprinted out to a 50-34 advantage with 16:49 remaining. Young also had a couple of baskets during the 12-0 run.
The Mastodons cut the margin to 66-60 on Ben Botts' 3-pointer with 9:19 remaining, but that was a close as they could get.
IUPUI outscored IPFW 48-43 in the second half.
