Box Score
INDIANA, PA - A relentless effort on the offensive glass from
Devon Cottrell (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Gateway) helped propel the 21st-ranked IUP men's basketball team to a 72-48 blowout win over Shippensburg in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover action Friday night.
It was a career night for Cottrell, who splashed in 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor to go along with five rebounds, all on the offensive end. Not to be outdone was
Anthony Wells (Cleveland, OH/Shaker Heights), who scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Wells scored seven points in the game's opening minutes to vault IUP to an early 18-2 lead.
The Raiders (2-10, 0-8 PSAC) would claw back with an 11-0 run to slice the Crimson Hawks lead to five midway through the half, but IUP would respond with an 11-0 run of its own to build up a 29-13 lead with 4:24 to play in the period.
Mathis Keita (Thionville, France/Insep) bookended the run with a pair of buckets, while
Josh Wiegand (Whiteford, MD/John Carroll) chipped in four points.
The Crimson Hawks lead would balloon to as much as 27 midway through the second half thanks to a trio of easy layups from Wells and a
Scooter Renkin (Midlothian, VA/Blue Ridge) triple, but Shippensburg would punch back. The Raiders sliced the deficit to just 21 with under four minutes to play, but buckets from Cottrell and Wells would salt away the victory.
Cottrell netted 10 of his 12 points in the second half, while 11 of Wells' 19 points came in the second stanza. Keita finished the game with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Renkin added nine points, six boards and three assists.
Joe Lococo paced Shippensburg with 18 points and a pair of assists, while Sam Pygatt finished with 11 points and three rebounds. The Raiders were unable to solve the stifling IUP defense all evening, shooting just 29.8% from the floor as a team.
The Crimson Hawks (10-2, 6-2 PSAC) are back in action tomorrow evening when they host a tough opponent in Millersville, who has won three of its last four. Tipoff Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m.
