MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Third-ranked IUP men's basketball overcame a second half Millersville comeback and made a couple of key free throws in the final minute to secure a 74-73 victory Sunday afternoon at Pucillo Gymnasium.
 
The Crimson Hawks improved to 8-0 on the year with the one-point win, sweeping their PSAC opening weekend with another exciting finish.
 
Trailing 68-64 with 4:31 to play, the Crimson Hawks went on a 7-0 run with buckets from Willem Brandwijk, Malik Miller and Armoni Foster, the latter a 3-pointer to put IUP on top 71-68 with 2:38 on the clock.
 
Minutes later in a one-point game, Foster, a redshirt freshman, made a pair of huge free throws with 38.9 seconds left to give IUP a 73-70 lead.
 
After a Millersville missed layup, Greg Bearer took a trip to the foul line and split his two attempts to make it a four-point game at 74-70 with 12 seconds to play.
 
Marcus Adkison drained one of his six second half 3-pointers to bring it back to one and IUP followed with a turnover to give Millersville one last chance with seconds left. But one final 3-point attempt bounced off the rim and the Crimson Hawks hung on for the win.
 
Senior forward Jacobo Diaz and Miller each had a team-best 17 points. Diaz just barely missed a double-double with nine boards and had three assists and two steals in 32 minutes.
 
Foster finished with eight points, hitting two of the Crimson Hawks' 10 3-pointers.
 
Millersville's Adkison finished with 26 points, including 22 in the second half to lead the comeback.
 
IUP led by as many as 16 points late in the first half and took a 41-31 lead into halftime.
 
The Marauders (4-4, 1-1 PSAC), who ended the half on a 5-0 run, remained hot and scored 19 of the first 26 points in the second to take a 50-48 lead with 13:50 to play. They remained on top until that late IUP run with minutes to go.
 
Notes
IUP is No. 3 in both the NABC and D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls entering the weekend … This is IUP's first 8-0 start since the 2013-14 season … IUP finished with 10 3-pointers Sunday and went 26-of-48 (.542) from deep during the weekend … Millersville went just 2-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half and 7-of-16 in the second half … IUP tied a season-high with 19 turnovers, but scored 20 points off 20 Millersville turnovers … IUP finished 16-of-27 from the foul line and are just 54-of-94 (.574) from the charity stripe over the last four games.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks return to the court for a battle of the PSAC unbeaten against Shippensburg (8-0, 2-0 PSAC) Saturday at the Memorial Field House. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. The Raiders entered the weekend ranked No. 20 in the NABC and No. 24 in the D2SIDA Top 25 polls. They defeated Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown this weekend.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.