CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Senior forward Jacobo Diaz posted his 14th double-double of the year and helped second-ranked IUP men's basketball fend off a second half surge by Cal U to come away with a 65-60 road win Saturday at the Convocation Center.
 
Diaz finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. He also came up clutch in the final 90 seconds by knocking down a pair of free throws and blocking a layup on the other end of the court.
 
The victory was the Crimson Hawks' fifth straight as they improved to 24-2 overall and 17-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). They gained a tighter grip on their lead in the Western Division and are now 1.5 games ahead of second place Slippery Rock (19-8, 16-4) with two games left to play.
 
IUP led for most of the first half, using back-to-back 3-pointers by guards Malik Miller and Dante Lombardi to go on top 17-8 before the second media timeout.
 
Lombardi hit four 3-pointers on the afternoon and scored a team-high 20 points.
 
After the Vulcans (7-18, 5-14 PSAC) cut their deficit to 19-15 minutes later, IUP grabbed the momentum back with a 9-3 run to take its biggest lead of the first half at 28-18 with 4:48 to play before the break. The Crimson Hawks went into the locker room with a 34-26 lead.
 
Cal came out hot in the second half with a 10-2 run, and took a 38-36 lead with a 3-pointer by Cordell Smith right after the first media timeout.
 
Diaz answered back with buckets on consecutive trips down the floor, before grabbing a rebound that led to a trey by Lombardi as IUP regained the lead at 43-41 less than two minutes later.
 
Redshirt freshman guard Armoni Foster then put together his own run with three straight buckets, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to put the Crimson Hawks on top by nine at 53-44 with 9:00 to go.
 
Foster came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting in 26 minutes.
 
But the Vulcans didn't let IUP keep that momentum as they hung around and cut their deficit to 57-55 seven minutes later. Holding onto that 2-point lead, Diaz went to the line and converted two free throws to make it a 59-55 game. He then raced down the court and blocked a Cal layup attempt, which led to a Lombardi bucket on the other end as IUP grabbed a 6-point lead.
 
The Crimson Hawks iced the game with free throws by Lombardi and Miller in the final minute.
 
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 299-99 (.751) for his career and is just one win shy of becoming the third active PSAC coach with 300 career victories … In his 13th season, Lombardi would become the fastest PSAC coach to 300 with his next victory … The Crimson Hawks are one win shy of clinching the program's 16th PSAC West regular season title … It would be the fourth straight division title and ninth in 13 years under Lombardi … IUP's 65 points is the least its scored in a victory since the 60-48 win over Le Moyne on November 24 … This was IUP's seventh straight win over Cal in the Convocation Center … IUP posted its fifth straight regular season sweep of the Vulcans … This was the third straight game that Diaz and Lombardi were IUP's top two scorers – Lombardi is averaging 21.0 points while Diaz is averaging 19.7 during that span.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks could clinch their fourth straight PSAC West regular season title with a win at Edinboro Wednesday night. The Fighting Scots are 9-15 overall and grappling for a postseason berth with a 6-13 conference record. IUP won the first meeting with Edinboro 102-53 at the Kovalchick Complex January 21. Tipoff Wednesday 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.