INDIANA, Pa. – Senior guard Dante Lombardi scored a career-high 27 points and senior forward Jacobo Diaz tallied his fourth double-double to lead No. 3 IUP men's basketball to an 88-77 win over No. 11 Shippensburg Saturday night at the Memorial Field House.
 
That duo combined for 24 second half points as the Crimson Hawks outscored Shippensburg 48-32 in the final 20 minutes to remain undefeated at 9-0, including a 3-0 conference record.
 
IUP trailed 45-40 at halftime thanks in large part to Shippensburg's nine 3-pointers and incredibly hot shooting start.
 
Two of the top squads in the Atlantic Region, both teams traded buckets in the early going, with Shippensburg knocking down 3-pointers on three straight trips down the floor. IUP matched the Raiders' intensity and offensive marksmanship, knocking down big shots in response including back-to-back treys from freshman guard Armoni Foster and Lombardi.
 
Senior forward Willem Brandwijk converted a huge alley-oop dunk from Lombardi before the latter splashed another three-pointer as IUP trailed 24-20 midway through the first half.
 
The Crimson Hawks used a run to take a 25-24 lead a few minutes later but Shippensburg fought back and built leads of as many as seven points before the break.
 
Shippensburg (8-2, 2-1 PSAC) held onto that lead until the first media timeout of the second half when junior guard Malik Miller split a pair from the foul line to tie the game at 52-52.
 
That was the start of nine straight IUP points, with senior forward Marko Krivacevic and Lombardi each knocking down 3-pointers to put the Crimson Hawks on top 60-52.
 
Back-to-back technical fouls from IUP allowed Shippensburg to cut into that lead, but it was all Crimson Hawks for the rest of the game as the closest the Raiders came was 66-63 with 10:26 left.
 
Up six with just under a minute to play, IUP iced the game with a made foul shot by Diaz followed by a steal and fast break layup by Lombardi. Brandwijk put the finishing touches on the win with a thundering slam dunk with 14 seconds to go.
 
Diaz finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, going 7-of-8 from the foul line. Lombardi's career-high came in 35 minutes, as he fought through second half foul trouble to knock down 7-of-16 from the field and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. He finished with five 3-pointers on the night.
 
Miller and Foster each added 15 points with Brandwijk had eight.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are ranked No. 3 in both the NABC and D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls this week … Shippensburg is ranked No. 11 and No. 13, respectively … This was IUP's second win over a top 25 opponent this season (No. 16 Virginia State) … IUP head coach Joe Lombardi improves to 3-2 against his former assistant Chris Fite since he took over at Shippensburg six years ago … This was the third straight game IUP knocked down at least 10 3-pointers in a game, finishing 11-of-22 from beyond the arc … The 21-of-26 performance from the foul line is IUP's best since going 17-of-21 against Westminster on November 19 … IUP tied a season-low with just nine turnovers … The Crimson Hawks finished 28-of-53 from the field.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks hit the road for their final non-conference game of the regular season at Fairmont State Friday night. After starting the season with two losses, the Falcons have won seven straight and are 7-2 on the year and 5-0 in the Mountain East Conference. IUP will host West Chester (6-4, 2-1 PSAC) Tuesday, December 18.
 
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