INDIANA, Pa. – The No. 2 ranked IUP men's basketball team recorded a 69-53 victory over Mercyhurst in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.

With the win the Crimson Hawks extend their winning streak to 18 games and move to 27-2 on the season. IUP, as the top remaining seed in the PSAC West, will host this weekend's PSAC semifinals and finals and will tangle with Shippensburg in the semifinals. It marks the program's 18th all-time appearance in the PSAC semifinals. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst sees its season end at 14-14.

Sophomore Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) recorded his 12th double-double of the season as he scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He added four assists and one steal. Sophomore Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting while adding five rebounds and one steal. Redshirt senior Devon Cottrell (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Gateway) tallied 16 points, six rebounds (three offensive), five blocks and one assist.

Mercyhurst took an early 4-0 lead on a layup from Durrell McDonald at the 18:09-mark. IUP answered with a 14-5 run over a nearly six-minute stretch that gave the Crimson Hawks a 14-9 lead at the 12:41-mark after a jumper from Malik Miller (Farrell, Pa./Farrell). The Lakers cut the lead to one (14-13) before the Crimson Hawks took a 21-15 lead on a layup from Anthony Glover (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) at the 7:35-mark. After Mercyhurst cut the lead to four the Crimson Hawks responded by ending the half on a 17-6 run which was highlighted by a Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) three-pointer just seconds before the horn sounded to take a 38-21 halftime lead. IUP was 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from the floor during the run.

The Lakers cut the lead to 40-25 early in the second half on a dunk from McDonald at the 16:55-mark. Just over two minutes later the Crimson Hawks upped the lead back to 17 (44-27) on a layup from Blake Danielak (Georgetown, Tex./Liberty Hill). Mercyhurst then used a quick 5-0 run to pull to within 44-32 at the 12:48-mark on a layup from McDonald. IUP then answered by pushing the lead to 48-32 after a three-pointer from Lombardi a minute later. A layup from Malcolm Walters cut the IUP lead to 12 (50-38) at the 9:33-mark. The Crimson Hawks then used an 8-2 run to push the lead to 58-40 after a layup from Diaz with just under seven-minutes left in the game. Minutes later Lombardi converted a three-point play to give IUP a 65-46 lead at the 2:20-mark. The Crimson Hawks pushed the lead to 21 (69-48) after a Brandon Spain (Baltimore, Md./Glen Burnie) dunk with just under one-minute left before IUP finished out the win.

IUP shot at a 42.1 percent (24-of-57) clip. In comparison, Mercyhurst shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the floor, including just 33.3 percent (8-of-24) in the first half. The Crimson Hawks held a 37-32 rebounding edge.

The Lakers were led by a team-high 17 points from McDonald as well as 10 points from Walters.

Up Next
The Crimson Hawks advance to the PSAC Semifinals and will host Shippensburg on Saturday, March 4 with tipoff set for 3:30 p.m. Shippensburg earned an 85-71 win over East Stroudsburg in the quarterfinals.

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