JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Seniors Jacobo Diaz and Dante Lombardi combined for 45 points and seven 3-pointers and helped lead the third-ranked IUP men's basketball team to an 80-67 victory at Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday night.
 
Diaz finished with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, draining four 3-pointers in addition to going 3-of-3 from the foul line. Lombardi scored 22 points on 7-of-14 from the floor, including three treys and went 5-of-7 at the charity stripe.
 
The Crimson Hawks handed Pitt-Johnstown's its first home loss of the season after winning its first 10 games at the Sports Center.
 
The win was the fifth straight road win for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 22-2 overall and 15-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). They keep their one-game lead over Slippery Rock in the Western Division.
 
The Crimson Hawks used the 3-point shot and three different second half runs to come away with the win.
 
Down 54-49 nearing the midway point of the second half, redshirt freshman Armoni Foster turned a UPJ turnover into a 3-pointer that cut IUP's deficit to two. The Crimson Hawks forced two more turnovers and went on a 10-0 run to flip their deficit into a 5-point lead at 59-54 with 8:40 lef.t
 
Minutes later after a UPJ bucket put a stop to the IUP run, Foster got the momentum going again with another trey to put his team on top 62-56. Diaz then went on his own personal tear, threading three straight 3-pointers on consecutive IUP possessions as the Crimson Hawks grabbed a 74-63 lead with 2:39 left.
 
The 15-7 IUP run went from 7:41 to 2:39 on the clock, including seven straight points to give the Crimson Hawks a comfortable double-digit lead with minutes to play.
 
The lead remained in double-figures the rest of the way as the Crimson Hawks closed out the hard fought win.
 
Joining Diaz and Lombardi in double-figures were Foster and junior guard Malik Miller. Foster came off the bench to score 14 points, including a 6-of-7 performance from the foul line. Miller had 12 points and rebounds.
 
The Crimson Hawks overcame a 36-to-28 deficit on the boards by forcing Pitt-Johnstown into 23 turnovers. IUP had 17 steals, including a team-best four by Lombardi.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 3 in the NABC and No. 5 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … Coach Joe Lombardi improved to 297-99 (.750) for his career and is just three wins shy of becoming the third active PSAC coach with 300 career victories … Lombardi is 14-3 lifetime against UPJ, including 13-1 since the Mountain Cats joined the conference in 2013 … This was IUP's sixth straight win at Johnstown … IUP improved to 9-1 on the road this year … This was IUP's 13th 80-point game of the season.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks are off this Saturday and return to action Wednesday, February 20 at home against Clarion. The Golden Eagles are 5-16 overall and last in the division with a 3-13 league record. They were off Wednesday night and host Slippery Rock Saturday. Tipoff next Wednesday at the Kovalchick Complex is 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.