ELON, N.C. – George Hill put up 22 points and Matt Burks dropped 21 as IUPUI overcame Elon 82-70 in overtime in a non-league men’s basketball contest Monday night at Alumni Gym. The first-ever meeting between the two teams featured 10 ties and 22 lead changes.
The Jaguars (3-2) fashioned a 23-17 lead on a jumper by Brandon Cole with 9:17 remaining in the opening period. The Phoenix (1-3) reeled off the game’s next 10 points, claiming a 27-23 advantage on a pair of free throws by Scottie Rice with 5:59 to play before the break.
IUPUI responded with a 7-3 spurt, taking the lead back at 30-29 on a charity shot by Maushae Byles with three seconds left in the period. Brian Waters drained a three-point basket at the buzzer, granting the Phoenix a 32-30 halftime edge.
The second half saw seven ties and 13 lead changes with neither team seeing a lead greater than three points. Elon snagged its final lead at 62-61 on a three-point bucket by Chris Chalko with 1:29 remaining in regulation.
Burks put the Jaguars back in front at 64-62 on a three-pointer just 12 ticks later. Jackson Atoyebi tied the game at 64-64 on a jumper with 53 seconds left in regulation, ultimately sending the contest into overtime.
With the game-tying bucket, Atoyebi became the 30th member of the Elon 1,000-point club. Entering the evening with 980 career points, he posted his second double-double performance of the season – the only one of the night – with season highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds.
IUPUI took the game over early in the overtime period, reeling off the stanza’s first seven points while holding the Phoenix without a field goal for the first two minutes.
David Barlow scored the first points on a lay-up just 22 seconds into the extra period. He later went on to connect on all six of his free throw attempts in the extra frame, putting the game out of reach for the Phoenix.
In addition to Hill and Burks, the Jaguars received key numbers from Barlow (13 points) and Angelo Smith (nine points and nine rebounds), who narrowly missed registering a double-double.
Chalko knocked down a season-high 18 points for Elon, which out-shot the Jaguars 44.4 percent (28-for-63) to 42.6 percent (26-for-61) while outscoring them 40-22 in the paint and 10-4 in fast break points.
IUPUI ended up with edges in points off turnovers (15-12), second chance points (11-5), bench points (15-12), rebounds (40-37), turnovers (8-16) and steals (5-3). The Jaguars fired 85.2 percent (23-for-27) from the charity stripe while the Phoenix finished at 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from the line.
The Phoenix will return to action with a visit to Virginia Commonwealth at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Jaguars will next play at Colorado State at 7 p.m. Saturday.
– ELON – Game Box Score
