INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - David Nurse's season-best 21 points and David DuBois' 18 points paced Western Illinois to a 58-48 win over IUPUI which snapped a 19-game home court winning streak at the Jungle, Saturday.

The win was first-year head coach Jim Molinari's first-ever Summit League win and first official road win. The Leathernecks (3-5, 1-0 The Summit League) captured their first-ever win at Indianapolis, dating back to 1974. It also snapped a 19-game losing streak to the Jaguars (5-3, 0-1 The Summit League) since 2000.

The Jaguars went on a 13-0 run with five field goals and three free throws to tie the game at 46-46 with 3:38 left in regulation. Fouled going up for the layup, DuBois gave the Leathernecks a three-point lead and hit a three-point shot from the right wing at 1:48 to extend the lead to six. Working to buy time, IUPUI was forced to foul and all three times fouled Nurse who converted 6-of-6 at the line. The Jaguars' Billy Pettiford snuck in a final layup with 18 seconds left in the game as the Leathernecks defeated the Jaguars by 10.

Western Illinois took its first lead at 16:45, 6-4, with a three-point shot from Josh Rivers. Rivers' three sparked a 16-4 run, including back-to-back threes from Nurse for the greatest lead of the game at 23-9 with 5:21 left in the half. The Jaguars answered back with a 13-0 run, including a three-point shot from John Ashworth and a layup by Robert Glenn. During the four-minute run, the Jaguars went 8-for-9 at the line to come within one, 23-22. Ceola Clark and James Granstra were successful in a trio of shots from the charity line to enter halftime with a 26-22 lead.

Back-to-back field goals to start the half, including a three from Pettiford, gave IUPUI its only lead of the second half, 27-26. DuBois and Nurse combined for 15 of Western's next 19 points with Nurse having three treys, for the greatest lead of the second half, 46-33 with 8:09 left. At 7:52 the Jaguars started a 13-0 run that would tie the game one final time.

The Leathernecks shot 39.6 percent (19-48) from the field and the Jaguars shot 36.4 percent (16-44). In three-point field goals, Western shot 40 percent (8-20), while IUPUI hit 3-of-11 for a 27.3 percentage from behind the arc. IUPUI's Alex Young and Glenn recorded double digits in scoring with 12 and 17 points respectively. Pettiford and Leroy Nobles each had 10 rebounds. Gary Patterson went scoreless (0-5 FG) for just the second time in his IUPUI career.The Jaguars, who lead the league in blocks averaging 4.4 per game, recorded three against the Leathernecks. Western held IUPUI to its lowest offensive output this season.

Clark recorded a career-high six steals, which contributed to 18 points that Western earned off turnovers. Nurse tied his career-high of five three-point shots. Granstra had a season-best seven rebounds. DuBois and Nurse recorded 13 and 15 points respectively in the second half.

Western Illinois returns home to host Southeast Missouri State in a midweek game, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. in Western Hall.

Western Illinois head coach Jim Molinari's postgame quotes:
“We were very fortunate tonight. These young men work extremely hard Monday through Friday and I told them that's what we wanted. I'm glad they have been rewarded for their hard work. All day today we talked about defense and defending the three. We let some shots go early, but our defense stayed with us and that was the key to the game.”

“There's nothing like winning on the road. To get a win on the road your first game in conference is really gratifying. I don't know any other way then to tell them the good, evaluate the bad and go back to work. It's only one game. We earned this. Most people can handle adversity; they can't handle success. We have to make sure that Southeast Missouri State comes in and we are ready for them. Hopefully, we have a little home-court advantage.”

On IUPUI making a late 13-0 run in both halves:
“I knew IUPUI would make a run. The reality of the situation is that you have to play to win it and not just to hang on. In the huddle I kept saying to be aggressive. We saw our all-around player David DuBois make three-point plays to put us ahead and I can't say enough about David Nurse. David Nurse has been playing tremendous defense the whole year. I think your offense will come out of your defense if you keep working.”

“They do an outstanding job of making use of 10-15 seconds. They gave us a lot of trouble--they are quick and they match up. We tried to tackle more in the middle with James (Granstra). This was a hard game for James and I am so proud of him. He had seven defensive rebounds and that is just huge. He also kept his presence and made them shoot over him. We attacked their zone. Ceola Clark has a tremendous feel; he has a high basketball I.Q.”

“Josh Rivers has taken it upon himself to handle the ball, be aggressive and force nothing. I think you can't say enough about him. I'm happy for him that he's been rewarded with a lot of time; he's a good-attitude guy.”

About defeating a high caliber Summit League team like IUPUI and making a statement in the league:
“I know Ron (Hunter, IUPUI's head coach). Ron has built a tremendously aggressive program and he will go out and get it back. I think we are making a statement that we have good kids that really fought and didn't fold.”