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INDIANA, PA – Daddy Ugbede (San Mateo, Calif./Serra) scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half as the 15th-ranked Crimson Hawks used a late 20-7 run to defeat West Virginia Wesleyan 57-41 on Wednesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
Ugbede made the most of his chances from the free throw line, going a perfect 8-of-8 in the final 20 minutes to help IUP secure the victory and move to 3-0 on the young season. Wesleyan drops to 1-2.
 
It was a rough start for the Crimson Hawks, who fell behind 10-6 on a three-pointer by Wesleyan's Chris Dewberry. The Bobcats still held a slim lead at 17-15 with just under nine minutes to go in the first half before IUP went on a 7-2 run to get the crowd involved and take a 22-19 lead six minutes later on a layup by Brandon Norfleet (Virginia Beach, Va. /Landstown).
 
A layup by Ugbede with 1:48 to go in the half was the final score before the buzzer and IUP took a 24-21 lead into the break.
 
The Crimson Hawks stretched their lead to 10 at 33-23 when Ugbede nailed a pair from the charity stripe with 13:38 on the clock. Shawn Dyer (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) started the 9-2 run with a three-pointer out of the gate in the second stanza, and also included a pretty alley-oop from Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) to Tevin Hanner (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill).
 
Wesleyan outrebounded the Crimson Hawks over the next several minutes to narrow its gap to five at 33-28 with 12:42, but that's when IUP scored 20 of the game's next 27 points to put things out of reach at 53-35 with 4:27 to go. Six different players scored on the run for IUP, including four points each by Ugbede, Hanner and Norfleet.
 
From there, the Crimson Hawks held off Wesleyan to secure a 16-point victory and their third win to start the year.
 
IUP shot just 39.2 percent from the floor, but forced the Bobcats into 18 turnovers on the night. Chance, Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School) and Cornell Yarde II (Reading, Pa. /Schuylkill Valley) each had a pair of steals. Ugbede was the only player in double-figures for the Crimson Hawks, however Dyer ended up with eight points and nine rebounds and Chance had five points and six assists. IUP finished with 15 assists on its 20 total field goals made.
 
The Crimson Hawks are off until Saturday when they open their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schedule at Seton Hill. Tipoff for the men's game is set for 1 p.m. in Greensburg.