SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Down by three points with five minutes to play, third-ranked IUP men's basketball went on a 21-4 run to remain undefeated and come away with a 76-62 road win at Shepherd Friday night.
 
Freshman forward Ethan Porterfield scored eight of those final 21 points, drilling 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with less than two minutes to play.
 
The late run was started by guards Malik Miller and Armoni Foster, who scored three straight buckets to give IUP a 61-58 lead with 3:11 to play. After a third straight missed bucket by Shepherd, senior forward Chucky Humphries made a contested 3-pointer in the corner while falling down in front of the IUP bench, giving the Crimson Hawks a 6-point lead with 2:23 on the clock.
 
After a Shepherd bucket, Porterfield hit the first of his two straight 3-pointers and would end up giving IUP a double-digit lead at 70-60 with a minute to play.
 
Foster iced the game with a pair of free throws on IUP's next possession, while Dave Morris and Porterfield added points to finish off the big run and give the Crimson Hawks a 14-point victory.
 
Shepherd entered as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, averaging nearly 14 treys and a 42.4 3-point field goal percentage. IUP limited the Rams to just 7-of-27 from deep, including a 1-of-13 performance in the second half alone.
 
Conversely, the Crimson Hawks shot 51.7 percent from the field in the second half and outrebounded Shepherd 22 to 15. Porterfield scored 13 points and played all 20 second half minutes while Foster scored 11 points in the second half.
 
Who stood out
Foster finished with a game-high 22 points, going 9-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the foul line. He added three steals. Porterfield scored a season-high 19 points in 37 minutes, going 4-of-8 from the floor with three 3-pointers and went 8-of-10 from the foul line. The 19 points is the most by an IUP freshman since Jacobo Diaz scored 20 (twice) during the 2015-16 season. Miller put up his second double-double in the last three games with 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with five assists.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 3 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … IUP has won 10 straight road games and is 35-4 on the road over the last four seasons … This was the first win over Shepherd in the first meeting under IUP head coach Joe Lombardi … Foster has four 20-point games and has led IUP in scoring five times in nine games this year … In the last five games Porterfield is averaging 26.6 minutes and 12.6 points per game and is shooting 56.8 percent from the field.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have another tough road test at Shippensburg (7-3, 3-1) Saturday night. The Raiders have lost two straight, including an 81-73 loss to Pitt-Johnstown at home Friday night.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.