INDIANA, PA - Shawn Dyer (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) and Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) each posted 20-plus point performances, leading the 16th-ranked IUP men's basketball team to its eighth consecutive victory. IUP earned a 79-69 win over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe Edinboro on Wednesday night from the Kovalchick Complex.
Dyer led IUP's hot offense, recording 25 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Crimson Hawk. He shot 50.0 percent from the floor, adding three deep balls, and was 10-of-15 from the charity stripe. He also posted four assists and a steal in his 37 minutes.
Chance finished the contest with 24 points, shooting 53.3 percent from the field and going 4-of-6 from deep and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. The senior recorded three assists, one block and three steals in 39 minutes.
Edinboro started hot, getting up by eight through three and a half minutes of play and forcing an IUP timeout. The Crimson Hawks responded, posting seven unanswered to pull within one with 13:38 to play in the first.
A layup from the Fighting Scotts' Quinn Lee Yaw with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half gave Edinboro a five-point advantage, but a layup and made free throw from Dyer ignited the IUP offense. The Crimson Hawks would go on an 8-2 run, led by five points from Dyer, to claim their first lead of the game.
The Fighting Scotts' battled back, reclaiming the lead and taking the four-point advantage with 1:37 left in the half. Daddy Ugbede (San Mateo, Calif./Serra) was successful on a three-point play and a pair of made free throws from Cornell Yarde II (Reading, Pa. /Schuylkill Valley) swung the momentum back in the favor of the Crimson Hawks. With 19 seconds to go, Edinboro's Tommy Scales nailed a jumper but Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School) closed the half out with a bang, nailing a three pointer with just three seconds remaining to send IUP into the break with the two-point advantage.
Both teams were on point offensively in the first half, with IUP shooting 50.0 percent from the field, compared to Edinboro's 44.8 percent. The Fighting Scotts posted a 50.0 thee-point percentage, while IUP was just 4-of-11. The Crimson Hawks, however, were solid from the line, making 6-of-10 shots from the charity stripe, compared to just 37.5 percent for Edinboro.
The second half mirrored the first from the start, with both teams exchanging baskets early on. Neither team was able to grab a solid lead with the game tied with 13:58 to play.
IUP took a four-point advantage following a layup from Brandon Norfleet (Virginia Beach, Va. /Landstown) and a pair of made free throws from Chance, and never relinquished the lead.
The Fighting Scotts pulled within a point of the lead three times over the following two minutes, but IUP began to pull away with just under 10 to play. The Crimson Hawks would go on a 16-9 run over the course of nearly 10 minutes of action, taking the eight-point advantage with 1:05 remaining on the clock.
Edinboro kept it interesting, with Scales hitting a three with 33 seconds to go to pull the Fighting Scotts within three, but five successful free throws from Dyer and Tevin Hanner (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill) sealed the game for IUP, earning the 16th-ranked Crimson Hawks the 10-point win.
In addition to the stellar performances from Dyer and Chance, Jeffers also finished the night in double figures, recording 11 points. The senior shot 4-of-9 from the floor, adding two three balls and two rebounds.
Ugebede finished the evening with eight points, three rebounds and one assist while both Norfleet and Hanner added four points and four rebounds.
As a team, IUP shot 47.1 percent from the floor, holding Edinboro to a 44.8 field goal percentage. They shot 42.9 percent from behind the arc and 66.7 percent from the free throw line, compared to Edinboro's 38.5 percent from deep and 52.2 percent from the charity stripe. The Crimson Hawks forced the Fighting Scotts into 11 turnovers, recording just seven of their own.
With the win, the Crimson Hawks improve to 15-2, 9-2 and winners of their last eight. They'll travel to rival Slippery Rock on Saturday for an evening matchup with The Rock. Slippery Rock enters the game with a record of 12-5, 7-4 and riding a two-game losing streak.
