BOX SCORE

SEASON STATS

INDIANAPOLIS -- Derek Drews led four Western Michigan players in double figures with 14 points, but IUPUI defeated the Broncos, 71-63, in front of 972 at The Jungle on Saturday night.

The Broncos (4-6) led by seven, 40-33, with 15:38 remaining in the game, but then went cold as IUPUI (7-2) used a 13-0 run to build a six-point lead, 46-40, with 11:50 remaining.

Martelle McLemore had a putback to pull WMU back within four, 46-42, followed by a David Kool layup moments later, 48-44, but IUPUI eventually pushed its advantage to 11, 57-46, with 6:18 remaining.

The Broncos had one final run as a Drews' three-pointer capped a 7-2 spurt to pull WMU back within six, 59-53, with 2:53 left on the clock.

On the ensuing IUPUI possession, WMU's Joe Reitz was called for a blocking foul and then was immediately assessed a technical foul after smacking his hands together for his fifth foul. Austin Montgomery converted both technical free throws and George Hill hit both of his free throws to push the Jaguars' lead back to 10, 63-53. WMU turned the ball over on the next trip down court and Montgomery converted two more free throws to give the Jaguars a 12-point lead, 65-53, and WMU couldn't pull any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

After holding the Jaguars to only 32 percent shooting in the first half (8-25), WMU allowed IUPUI to hit 13-of-20 shots in the second half and the Jaguars hit 19-of-20 second half free throws to keep the Broncos at bay.

IUPUI scored the first four points of the game, but WMU answered with a Kool three-pointer and a layup from Reitz off a touch pass from Andrew Hershberger to take the lead, 5-4, but IUPUI came back to build a five-point advantage, 13-8, on a Billy Pettiford jumper with 9:45 left in the first half.

In a game of runs, WMU put together a 9-1 run with four points from Reitz, a three-pointer by Shawntes Gary and a Donald Lawson layup to go up three, 17-14, with 5:10 remaining.

Five straight points by the Jaguars gave them a short-lived lead, 21-20, as the Broncos scored seven straight to build a six-point edge, 27-21, with 63 seconds to go in the half after two Drews' free throws and eventually led by five, 28-23, at intermission.

The Broncos shot 41.7 percent (10-24) in the first half and connected on four three-pointers, while also playing strong defense on the Jaguars.

In the second half, the Broncos were cold for much of the elapsed time before hitting several shots late to finish the game shooting 41.8 percent (23-55) overall and 36.4 percent behind the arc (8-22). The Jaguars finished the game hitting 21-of-45 shots (.467), despite 5-of-15 three-point shooting. WMU hit 9-of-13 free throws to 24-of-27 for the Jaguars.

The Broncos dominated on the glass (33-25), including 14 offensive rebounds that led to a 14-2 edge in second chance points. WMU didn't allow IUPUI a single offensive rebounds in the second half.

Turnovers were nearly even with 16 for the Brown & Gold (only five in the second half) and 12 for the hosts. IUPUI used that slight advantage to lead 12-7 in points off turnovers and 9-0 in fast break points.

Gary added 13 points for WMU, while Reitz had 12 points and seven rebounds and Kool scored 10 points. Hershberger tied his career high with three assists and McLemore led all players with a career-high eight rebounds. Michael Redell had five assists to lead all players.

Hill led IUPUI with 21 points, Pettiford had 16 points and seven rebounds and Montgomery scored 14 points, all in the second half.

The Broncos are back in action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Southern Illinois (4-4) at University Arena.