EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Senior guard
Dante Lombardi scored a career-high 33 points and tied a program record for 3-pointers in a game and the No. 5 Crimson Hawks outlasted East Stroudsburg 98-97 in overtime Wednesday night at the Koehler Fieldhouse.
IUP became the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) team to 15 wins, rebounding from its first loss of the season Saturday to improve to 15-1 overall and 8-1 in the league.
Lombardi finished with eight 3-pointers on the night, tying John Sanow (1987) and Geoff Evans (2001) for the single game program record.
He finished his night 11-of-21 from the field including 8-of-15 from deep, and went 3-of-5 at the foul line. Lombardi grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists before fouling out in the final minute of overtime. He played in a career-high 44 minutes.
Lombardi's final 3-pointer of the night came with 1:03 to play in regulation to cut IUP's deficit to 81-80. Junior guard
Malik Miller hit a pair of free throws to give IUP the lead but ESU's Troy Jones knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Warriors back on top at 84-82 with 11 seconds left.
Rushing down the floor,
Jacobo Diaz found fellow senior forward
Willem Brandwijk for the game-tying bucket as time expired to send the game to overtime.
The Crimson Hawks never trailed in the overtime period, as buckets by Diaz and Lombardi gave them an 88-84 lead less than 40 seconds in. IUP twice built a 5-point lead, with freshman guard
Armoni Foster making it a 95-90 game on a made foul shot with 29 seconds left.
It was a 2-point game with eight seconds left when Diaz gave the Crimson Hawks a comfortable 98-94 lead with a pair from the charity stripe. Those would prove to be valuable as ESU's Jakwan Jones made a 3-pointer with two seconds left, but it was too late for the Warriors.
Not to be overshadowed was Diaz, who finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds. It was his PSAC-leading ninth double-double of the season. Diaz shot 9-of-11 from the field, made two 3-pointers, and finished 8-of-10 from the foul line in 42 minutes.
The Crimson Hawks had to overcome a season-worst 24 turnovers resulting from East Stroudsburg's pressing defense.
IUP had one of its best shooting performances of the year at 54.1 percent (33-of-61) and totaled a season-best 14 3-pointers made.
The momentum swung back-and-forth several times, with the Crimson Hawks jumping out to an early 21-11 lead less than eight minutes into the game. ESU fought back to tie things up at 27-27 and took a brief lead, but IUP responded with a 15-4 run to take another 10-point lead before halftime.
The Crimson Hawks led by as many as 12 early in the second half but the Warriors went on a 14-2 run to go on top 67-66 with just under 12 minutes to play. They held the lead for most of the remainder of the second half until Miller hit his two free throws with a half-minute remaining.
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 5 in the NABC and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … The win ended East Stroudsburg's 16-game home win streak … Head coach
Joe Lombardi improved to 290-98 … The 15-1 start to the season is tied for the best 16-game start in the Lombardi era … IUP is 9-2 in games after a loss over the last three seasons … IUP improved to 5-0 in games against PSAC East teams this season, and 32-7 since 2013-14 … Diaz's double-double was the 38th of his career … Lombardi moved into 19th in program history with 1,291 career points … With 482 assists he's now 30 behind IUP's all-time leader Devante Chance (2011-15) with 512.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks return home for the first time in two weeks when they host Edinboro Saturday at the Kovalchick Complex. The Fighting Scots are 4-10 overall and 1-8 in the PSAC and have lost six straight. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
