Box Score

INDIANA, PA – Four different players scored in double-figures as 16th-ranked IUP defeated Mansfield 79-50 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night at the KCAC.

Mathis Keita (Thionville, France/Insep) scored a game-high 18 points as the Crimson Hawks improved to 8-1 on the year, 4-1 in PSAC play. The loss drops Mansfield to 2-5 on the season, 1-4 in the conference.

Scooter Renkin (Midlothian, VA/Blue Ridge) scored 15 points while Anthony Wells (Cleveland, OH/Shaker Heights) and Blake Vedder (Chesterland, OH/West Geauga) chipped in 10 apiece. A total of 12 players saw action on the court while 10 scored for IUP, which forced 18 turnovers while only giving away five.

It was Mansfield that scored the game's first four points, but IUP rallied to take a 9-7 lead less than six minutes into the game.

The Crimson Hawks then built a big 18-point lead on the strength of a 16-2 run over the course of 7:34. The run was ignited by a huge dunk by Vedder off a nice inbound pass by Renkin and continued with layups by Wells and Vedder and three-pointers by Renkin and Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter). A layup by Keita with 5:58 left in the half gave the Crimson Hawks a 29-11 lead.

The lead extended to 21 points after another three by Renkin with 1:21 left but after four straight points by Mansfield, IUP went into the break with a 38-21 advantage.

Buckets by Keita, Wells and Dan Ayebo (Indiana/Indiana) early in the second half gave IUP a 19-point lead before extending it to a 48-26 lead at the 15:37 mark after another layup by Ayebo.

After Mansfield narrowed the gap back to 19 points at 58-39, the Crimson Hawks responded with an 11-0 run as a score by Keita made it a 30-point lead with 4:13 left in the game. The Mountaineers would only get as close as 26 points before IUP eventually finished off the 29-point victory.

Joe Bell led the way for Mansfield with 16 points on 6-of-16 from the field as the Mountaineers shot 36.0 percent (18-of-50). The Crimson Hawks also forced Mansfield to connect on just 3-of-16 three-point shots.

IUP shot 43.1 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the foul line. Keita added six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 28 minutes, going 8-of-13 from the field. Wells also had six rebounds, adding five assists and three steals.

The Crimson Hawks take a break for the holidays, returning to action on January 4 and 5 with PSAC crossover games at East Stroudsburg and Kutztown.