IUPUI defeats OU men in Summit League semifinal

[Patrick McCloskey helps DErick Nelson to his feet.

IUPUI's George Hill scored a game-high 32 points and Oakland University shot just 36 percent from the floor (22-61) as the Jaguars (26-6) advanced to the championship game of The Summit League men's basketball tournament with an 80-65 win over the Golden Grizzlies (17-14) on Monday night in John Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC. Junior Derick Nelson led OU with his fifth double-double of the season, tallying 21 points and 12 rebounds.

"They need to be congratulated," said head coach Greg Kampe. "They played a great game tonight and we didn't."

Sophomore Johnathon Jones added 18 points and six assists, while junior Erik Kangas finished the game with 13 points for the Grizzlies. Freshman Tim Williams scored 11 points to round out double figure scorers for Oakland.

The Golden Grizzlies trailed the entire opening 20 minutes, posting a quick 5-0 run to creep within three points, 28-25, with 3:56 left until halftime. The Jaguars' George Hill then converted an old fashioned three-point play to push the lead back to six points with just under three minutes to go. The lead grew to seven points before Kangas drilled a big 3-pointer from the corner with just one second left to send OU to the locker room down by four, 37-33.

Junior Derick Nelson

The Jaguars used a 6-0 run over three minutes to extend the lead to 10 points, 53-43, with 12:43 remaining in the game. OU fought back with a 6-0 run to get back within four points, but Hill scored six of the Jaguars' next eight points to push the lead to 11, 60-49 (9:30).

The Grizzlies had chances to cut the lead down to one basket, but just could not do it as the lead was seven, 66-59, for the Jaguars with 3:58 left in the contest. With 2:37 on the game clock Hill drilled a deep 3-pointer after a pair of misses at the free throw line by OU's Nelson to give the Jaguars a double digit lead for the second time in the half, 71-61.

IUPUI's Austin Montgomery then connected on a three-pointer from the corner and the Jaguars made a pair of free throws to take their largest lead of the game at 15 points to hold off the Golden Grizzlies.

OU's women's team was unable to overcome the long-range shooting of the Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles, falling 71-61 in the semifinals of the Summit League Women’s Basketball Championship earlier on Monday.

or more information on OU’s basketball teams, visit the Oakland University Athletics Web site.