INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Dec. 12 - Ray Jones, Jr., scored 21 points, dished out seven assists and pulled down seven rebounds to lead Southern Utah's men's basketball team to a 72-64 win at IUPUI on Thursday night, giving Coach Roger Reid his 200th career win. The win, which was SUU's second straight at IUPUI, moved SUU to 3-4 in Summit League games and 8-9 overall while IUPUI dipped to 2-5 and 8-11.

SUU took control of the game in the first half, going up by as many as nine and holding a 37-30 lead at halftime, but the Jaguars came out aggressively in the second half and came back to tie the game at 45-45 on a pair of Stephen Thomas free throws with 12:24 to play.

The Jaguars grabbed their first lead of the game 47-45 on a Donovan Patton basket with 12:01 to play, but Damon Heuir hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the lead back to the Thunderbirds.

Ramell Taylor got a steal on IUPUI's next possession and Jones hit a jumper to stake the Thunderbirds to a 50-47 lead and the Thunderbirds never trailed again.

SUU pushed the lead back to seven points at 65-58 on a Jackson Stevenett jumper with 2:04 to play, then hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

"Our guys did a great job down the stretch executing the offense, hitting free throws and playing defense," SUU Coach Roger Reid said. "It isn't easy winning games on the road but our guys rose to the challenge tonight. We were patient, we passed the ball well, we pushed the ball against their press and we rebounded well down the stretch."

Taylor and Stevenett each scored 19 points and Stevenett added seven rebounds, a career-high four blocks and four assists.

SUU tied its season-high for assists in a road game with 18, doubling up the Jaguars in dimes. The Thunderbirds also held IUPUI to 40 percent shooting (24-of-60) while hitting 28-of-47 of their own shots, 59.6 percent, their second-best effort in a true road game and their third-best overall this season.

The Thunderbirds held Alex Young, The Summit League's pre-season player of the year, to 10 points before he fouled out. Ian Chiles led the Jaguars with 14 points.

SUU hit 17-of-26 first-half shots, 65.4 percent, while holding IUPUI to 10-of-27 from the floor (.370) in the period. Jones had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the half, while Taylor scored 10 and Stevenett added eight. Every T-Bird but one was above .500 shooting in the half.

The Thunderbirds hit 5-of-6 shots in a 10-2 game-opening run. Stevenett and Jones each had a pair of baskets in the run and Taylor adding another.  SUU's built the lead to 21-12 after a Taylor jumper at the 9:13 mark, but IUPUI pulled back within 27-24 on an Ian Chiles 3-pointer with 3:26 to play. The T-Birds outscored the Jaguars 10-6 the rest of the way to take a 37-30 lead into the break.

-- SUU --