INDIANA, PA –
Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) scored a career-high 28 points and dished out seven assists to lead the 15th-ranked IUP men's basketball team to an easy 96-62 victory over Urbana in its 2014-15 season opener.
Chance was on fire from the field, going 9-of-12, including 6-of-8 from three-point range, in 26 minutes. He also made 4-of-4 at the foul line as the Crimson Hawks wrapped up the first night of the Atlantic Region Conference Challenge at the Memorial Field House.
It was not only Chance, but the entire IUP team that shot well on Friday night. The Crimson Hawks made 36-of-57 shots, a 63.2 percent clip. They went 9-of-19 from three-point range and 15-of-17 from the foul line.
The Crimson Hawks tallied 27 assists on their 36 made shots, with
Brandon Norfleet (Virginia Beach, Va. /Landstown) and
Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School) each dishing out six assists in addition to Chance's seven.
Shawn Dyer (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) also had five in addition to his 10 rebounds.
Norfleet also hit double-figures in scoring with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and also had three rebounds and two steals.
Cornell Yarde II (Reading, Pa. /Schuylkill Valley) also posted 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with five rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Crimson Hawks started off extremely hot, scoring the game's first 17 points and built a 26-2 lead on a three by
Stefan Osborne (Victoria, Australia/St. Patrick's College) at the 10:58 mark. Osborne came off the bench to go 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in 13 minutes.
IUP kept its huge lead, hitting a 30-point advantage at 37-7 with 7:20 left in the first half. The Crimson Hawks ended the opening 20 minutes with a 13-4 run to take a 54-19 lead into the locker room. IUP went 21-of-28 from the floor in the first half while forcing Urbana into a poor 6-of-31 performance.
The Blue Knights actually outscored IUP 43-42 in the second half, even though they converted just 12-of-36 from the floor. The Crimson Hawks still shot 51.7 percent in the second half, making 15-of-29 from the floor, but turned the ball over nine times. Also, 12 Crimson Hawks saw the floor and scored points on the night.
IUP returns to the court tomorrow night, returning to the Kovalchick Complex to play Johnson C. Smith at 7:30 p.m.
