INDIANA, Pa. – The No. 21 IUP men's basketball team survived a comeback while recording a 77-72 victory over Pitt-Johnstown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Tuesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.

With the win the Crimson Hawks improve to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in PSAC play. Meanwhile the Mountain Cats fall to 8-5 overall behind a 3-4 mark in league play.

Redshirt senior Devon Cottrell (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Gateway) scored a team-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds, one block and one steal. Sophomore Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) scored 16 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:37 to play. He added six rebounds and four assists. Classmate Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds while redshirt junior Blake Danielak (Georgetown, Tex./Liberty Hill) added 13 points.

IUP jumped out to an early 10-6 lead at the 16:49-mark on a layup from Cottrell. Moments later Pitt-Johnstown cut the lead to 10-9 on a three-pointer from Dale Clancy. The Crimson Hawks countered with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 19-9 at the 13:28-mark on a Brandon Spain (Baltimore, Md./Glen Burnie) jumper. The Mountain Cats responded with an 11-7 run over a nearly four-minute stretch to cut the lead to 24-20 midway through the first half.

Pitt-Johnstown then cut the lead to 27-26 on a jumper from Josh Wise at the 7:21-mark. IUP answered with a 10-2 run over nearly five-minutes to extend the lead to 37-26. The Crimson Hawks defense stifled the Mountain Cats as Pitt-Johnstown was held to just 1-of-7 shooting during the run.

Pitt-Johnstown fought back to pull to within 47-43 with an 11-5 run to open the second half. An A.J. Leahey layup cut the IUP lead to 49-47 at the 13:13-mark. The Mountain Cats then took their first lead of the game with a three-pointer from Clancy that put them up 52-51 midway through the second half. The three-pointer highlighted a 7-2 Pitt-Johnstown run over a three-minute stretch. IUP countered with a 10-3 run to take a 61-52 lead at the 9:04-mark after Cottrell converted a three-point play.

The Mountain Cats came back to tie the game at 63-63 after an 11-3 run highlighted by a Leahey three-pointer at the 5:29-mark. Pitt-Johnstown then took 69-67 lead with 2:45 to play on a layup from Clancy. A three-pointer from Lombardi gave the Crimson Hawks a 71-69 lead at the 1:37-mark. IUP then made 6-of-8 foul shots to seal the win.

Pitt-Johnstown was led by a game-high 21 points from Leahey while Clancy and Isaac Vescovi each scored 15 points.

The Crimson Hawks shot at a blistering 53.1 percent (26-of-49) clip including nearly 58.0 percent (15-of-26) clip in the second half. The Mountain Cats shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62). IUP held a slim 29-28 rebounding edge.

Up Next
IUP continues PSAC West play on Friday, January 6 when it travels to Slippery Rock with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPMens_Bball.