INDIANA, Pa. – Junior Brandon Spain (Baltimore, Md./Glen Burnie) hit an 18-footer with 1.3 seconds left to give IUP a 68-66 victory over Mercyhurst in a battle of the top two men's basketball teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division on Wednesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
With the game tied and shot clock turned off with under 30 seconds to play, senior guard Brandon Norfleet (Virginia Beach, Va. /Landstown) controlled the ball as IUP passed up calling a timeout. In the final seconds, Norfleet was doubled and found Spain, who had worked to come open on the right wing for the open jumper.
 
Mercyhurst put up a desperate heave from just inside midcourt as the buzzer sounded, but the shot fell short and the Crimson Hawks came away with the win, putting two games between them and the Lakers in the PSAC West standings.
 
It was the 11th straight win for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 17-5 overall and 14-3 in league play. Mercyhurst fell to 15-6 and 12-5 in the conference.
 
Spain ended his night with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists. He knocked down a pair of key three-pointers on the night and also made two steals on the defensive end. Due to sickness earlier in the season, Spain didn't play when IUP fell to Mercyhurst 64-57 in Erie on Nov. 18.
 
Norfleet finished with a game-high 22 points, his 15th 20-point performance of the season. He went 8-of-18 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line, adding six assists, four rebounds and a steal in just under 40 minutes.
 
Down by seven points at 60-53 late in the second half, IUP rattled off a 9-0 run over a 2:18 span to take a 62-60 lead with 3:24 to play. It was Spain who put the Crimson Hawks on top at that point as well, grabbing a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast for a layup.
 
The game had two more ties in the final minutes, with Norfleet and freshman forward Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) each coming up with big plays on the offensive end. A three-point attempt by Mercyhurst's Gerrae Williams with just over 30 seconds left bounced off the rim where Norfleet collected the rebound, eventually leading to the game-winner.
 
The game featured 18 ties and 12 lead changes, and 56 combined points in the paint. The Crimson Hawks forced Mercyhurst into 18 turnovers and owned a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
IUP outrebounded Mercyhurst 32-to-29 on the night, collecting 12 on the offensive glass. Freshman guard Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Spain had his six. All eight players had at least two on the night.
 
The Crimson Hawks shot 46.6 percent on the best scoring defensive in Division II, with four players reaching double-figures in scoring. In addition to Norfleet's 22 and Spain's 12, Lombardi had 13 and senior forward Daddy Ugbede (Gardena, Calif./Serra) finished with 11. Norfleet's 22 marked just the third time all season that Mercyhurst had allowed a 20-point scorer.
 
IUP will face another tough matchup on Saturday with a home game against Edinboro. IUP now owns a three-game lead on the Fighting Scots, who lost tonight to Slippery Rock to drop to 12-8 overall and 11-6 in the PSAC West.
 
Tipoff on Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Kovalchick Complex.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPMens_Bball.