Box Score

 INDIANA, PA – Julian Sanders (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) scored a team-high 15 points and Ashton Smith (Scarborough, ON/West Hill Collegiate) added 12 as the IUP men's basketball team defeated Seton Hill 62-54 in their regular season home opener at the Kovalchick Complex Saturday night.

The Crimson Hawks (1-0) got out of the gates slowly, trailing 9-2 just over three minutes into the game. Oliver McGlade knocked down a three-pointer for the Griffins, while Matt Miller and Chris Giles both got to the rim for layups.

IUP would fight back, as Sanders drilled a pair of three's and Marcel Souberbielle (Montevideo, Uruguay/Uruguayan American School) laid in a bucket to knot the game at 16-16 with 9:52 to play in the first half. The Crimson Hawks looked to put some distance between themselves and the Griffins on a pair of layups by Souberbielle and Danny Ayebo, but David Windsor and Matt Miller answered with jumpers to keep pace with IUP.

Seton Hill had an opportunity to take a lead heading into the half, but Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) came up with a steal and found Ashton Smith (Scarborough, ON/West Hill Collegiate), who deposited a fade-away jumper as time expired  to give the Crimson Hawks a 25-23 lead at the break.

The Crimson Hawks came out sharp in the second stanza, going on a 19-5 run to start the period that was capped off by Smith jumper. With IUP pulling away midway through the second half, the Griffins leaned on sophomore Andrew Cressler, whose back-to-back three-pointers brought Seton Hill to within seven points with 9:33 to play.

Josh Wiegand (Whiteford, MD/John Carroll) answered with a thunderous slam dunk for the Crimson Hawks, but the Griffins run would continue thanks to two more jumpers from Cressler and a three from Oliver McGlade to cut the IUP lead to 52-50 with 5:14 to play in the game.

With the IUP lead shrinking and little time remaining in the contest, the Crimson Hawks went to Indiana product Ayebo, who sank a pair of free throws to spark an IUP run. Chance slashed to the rim for a layup, and Smith found a cutting Souberbielle for an easy lay-in to extend the lead to six with three minutes remaining.  The final dagger came with 1:46 remaining, when Smith nailed a step-back jumper to put the game out of reach.

Smith struggled from the floor, making 5-15 field goal attempts for his 12 points, but he also pulled down eight rebounds and dished four assists. Souberbielle had seven points and a team-high 13 boards, while Ayebo had nine points and six rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. As a team the Crimson Hawks owned the glass, outrebounding Seton Hill 48-29.

Miller led the way for Seton Hill, scoring 16 points and grabbing five boards. Cressler finished with 15 points and was 3-of-3 from behind the arc, while McGlade finished with six points. IUP limited Seton Hill's leading scorer from a season ago Chris Giles to just four points on 2-14 shooting.

The win was the first for IUP men's basketball at the brand new Kovalchick Complex, as the Crimson Hawks honored their alumni during a halftime ceremony.

The Crimson Hawks are back in action this Monday when they host Thiel College at 7:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Complex. IUP will celebrate the “Movember” movement, which helps to raise awareness for cancers that affect men.