GREENSBURG, Pa. – Senior guard Dante Lombardi scored 23 points and dished out seven assists to help lead fourth-ranked IUP men's basketball to an 85-72 victory over Seton Hill at the McKenna Center Wednesday night.
 
The win clinched IUP's 12th straight and 32nd all-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament appearance. The Crimson Hawks are the first team from the Western Division to clinch a postseason spot as they took over first place with a 12-1 league record.
 
It also gave the Crimson Hawks their best start in 13 seasons under head coach Joe Lombardi with a 19-1 record in their first 20 games. IUP started the 2009-10 season with 18 wins in its first 20 games.
 
IUP first had to battle an upset-minded Seton Hill team that shot 60 percent from the floor and drained six 3-pointers in the first half.
 
The Griffins (5-14, 3-10 PSAC) jumped on top early with an 11-4 lead before the first media timeout. Junior guard Malik Miller then keyed an 8-0 run as the Crimson Hawks took a 12-11 less than three minutes later.
 
The two teams battled back and forth as the game featured five lead changes and two ties over a 2:33 time span with Seton Hill taking a 25-21 lead at the midway point of the half.
 
The Griffins led for most of the remainder of the half but senior forward Jacobo Diaz tied things up at 41-all seconds before the halftime buzzer.
 
It looked like the Griffins would continue their hot shooting in the second half, knocking down two more 3-pointers as they held a 51-48 lead at the first media timeout. The Crimson Hawks responded with the first of two big second half runs, scoring 14 of the next 16 points to go up 62-53 on a Marko Krivacevic jumper with 9:51 to play.
 
Seton Hill cut its deficit to 62-60 minutes later but buckets by Miller and foul shots from Diaz put IUP back on top by eight with 5:24 left.
 
With the Crimson Hawks clinging to a 68-63 lead, they went on a 12-4 run over 3:39 to take a commanding 80-67 lead with one minute left to play. That lead remained in double-figures as IUP clinched the win with foul shots down the stretch.
 
Lombardi was one of five players to score in double-figures. Miller finished with 18 points, Krivacevic had 12, redshirt freshman guard Armoni Foster scored 11 and Diaz finished with 10 points.
 
The Crimson Hawks shot 53 percent from the field and made 21-of-25 from the foul line. After a hot shooting start by the Griffins, IUP limited them to 40 percent shooting in the second half including 2-of-10 from the foul line.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 4 in the NABC and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … IUP head coach Joe Lombardi improved to 294-98 with the win, including 14-1 against the Griffins … This was IUP's fifth straight 80-point game and 12th of the season … The Crimson Hawks are averaging 91.0 points per game with a 79.2 free throw percentage during that span … IUP had a season-low five turnovers and have just 34 turnovers over the last four games … Dante Lombardi increased his total to 511 career assists, just two shy of passing Devante Chance (2011-15) and becoming the program's all-time leader.  
 
Up next
The first place Crimson Hawks starts the second half of divisional play Saturday with a home matchup against Mercyhurst. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Complex. The Lakers are on a 6-game win streak at 14-4 overall and are third in the PSAC West with a 9-4 league record. IUP won the first meeting 77-66 on January 9 in Erie.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.