ERIE, Pa. – Senior guard
Anthony Glover, Jr. (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) scored 29 points and led a second half comeback that fell short as IUP men's basketball dropped a 75-66 game to Gannon at the Hammermill Center's Gary Miller Court Monday night.
Glover scored 19 of his 29 points during the second half rally, making 11-of-18 shots from the field including 6-of-11 from 3-point range in 39 minutes.
It was the second straight loss for the Crimson Hawks, who are now 18-7 overall and 14-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). They own a 1.5-game lead over second place Slippery Rock and Gannon with five games left to play in the regular season.
The Crimson Hawks had to rally twice, with Gannon grabbing an 18-6 early on in the first half. IUP responded with a 14-4 run keyed by
Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) and
Willem Brandwijk (Voorburg, The Netherlands/Holderness School (NH)), and trailed by six at 32-26 heading into the locker room.
Brandwijk had eight points at the break, going 4-of-5 from the field.
Gannon (17-8, 13-6 PSAC) took control early in the second half, using a 20-4 run to take a 52-32 lead with 14:38 on the clock.
That's when Glover got hot, scoring 11 straight points on four shots – three 3-pointers – as IUP climbed back to within 11 at 54-43 just four minutes later. The run continued with buckets from Lombardi and Brandwijk to make it a six-point ballgame at 54-48 with 10 minutes to play. Keyed by Glover, the IUP run ended at 16-2 and lasted 4:16.
Gannon went back up by 10 points minutes later and led by at least six points until a string of foul shots by IUP cut the Golden Knights' lead to three at 69-66 with 44 seconds to play. Those would be the last points for the Crimson Hawks as Gannon iced the game at the foul line to clinch the win.
Gannon finished the night 17-of-21 from the foul line compared to a 5-of-12 performance by the Crimson Hawks. GU also owned a 38-25 rebounding edge and shot 50.0 percent from the field, including 12-of-20 in the second half.
Lombardi and Brandwijk each finished with 13 points, with Lombardi dishing out six assists.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday with a road matchup against Clarion (3-21, 0-18 PSAC). Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
