INDIANA, Pa. – Senior duo Dante Lombardi and Jacobo Diaz combined for 41 points and each just missed out on a double-double in leading second-ranked IUP men's basketball to an 82-61 victory over Clarion Thursday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
Lombardi finished with 21 points and nine assists while Diaz went for 20 points and eight rebounds as the Crimson Hawks improved to 23-2 overall and 16-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
 
It was the fourth straight win for IUP, which controls its own destiny with a half-game lead over Slippery Rock (19-7, 16-3 PSAC) in the PSAC West with three games left in the regular season.
 
Lombardi and Diaz were main reasons why the Crimson Hawks had one of their finest shooting performances of the season. Lombardi made 7-of-8 from the field, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, while Diaz finished 8-of-12 from the field.
 
As a team the Crimson Hawks shot 56.4 percent (31-of-55), their second-best outing of the season. They also went 13-of-23 from behind the 3-point line, their best percentage (56.5) of the year.
 
That shooting was on display early and helped the Crimson Hawks fly out to a 15-4 lead to force a Clarion timeout. Lombardi knocked down a pair of 3-pointers early and a transition dunk by junior forward Chucky Humphries put the stamp on IUP's early run.
 
The Golden Eagles (5-18, 3-15 PSAC) started chipping away at the IUP lead and a transition dunk of their own made it a 27-24 game with just under six minutes to play in the half.
 
Clarion's big move came with 11:25 to play and trailing 21-9, using a 15-6 run with the help of seven IUP turnovers and a couple of treys to cut the deficit to three.
 
Diaz responded with a traditional 3-point play on the other end and the Crimson Hawks finished up the half with another 15-6 run to take a 42-30 lead at the break.
 
The lead increased to 19 points early in the next half and remained in double-digits the rest of the way en route to the victory. The Crimson Hawks built a lead of as many as 22 points, using runs of 11-2 and 8-0 to keep Clarion at bay.
 
Junior guard Malik Miller also reached double-figures for the Crimson Hawks, finishing with 15 points. Senior forward Willem Brandwijk had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 2 in the NABC and No. 4 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … Coach Joe Lombardi improved to 298-99 (.751) for his career and is just two wins shy of becoming the third active PSAC coach with 300 career victories … The Crimson Hawks improved to 14-1 at home this season, including 8-1 against PSAC teams … It was IUP's eighth straight home win over Clarion and eighth consecutive regular season sweep … IUP reached the 80-point mark for the 14th time this season.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks head to California (Pa.) to battle the Vulcans Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Cal is 7-17 overall and eighth in the PSAC West standings with a 5-13 league record. The Crimson Hawks won the first meeting of the season 81-56 at the KCAC January 23. A win would lock up a first round bye in the PSAC tournament.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.