INDIANA, Pa. – Junior guard
Malik Miller finished with 21 points and nine rebounds and the IUP defense limited Slippery Rock to its worst offensive performance of the year as the No. 6 Crimson Hawks posted a 77-48 win over their rivals Wednesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
The win by IUP broke a first place tie in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division with the Crimson Hawks now on top at 20-2 overall and 13-2 in league play. Slippery Rock is 15-7 and 12-3.
It also wrapped up the regular season series with each team winning on its home floor.
The IUP defense shut down the high-scoring Rock offense, limiting them to a season-low 25.9 field goal percentage, including 5-of-29 from 3-point range. The shooting performance was the program's worst since a game against Gannon during the 2009-10 season.
It was still a tightly contested game to start, with SRU taking an early 10-7 lead on a 3-pointer by Nolan Gerald. The Crimson Hawks answered with a triple of their own by senior forward
Jacobo Diaz, and later led 17-12 after a layup by Diaz at the midway point of the half.
After Slippery Rock cut its deficit to 17-15 moments later, the Crimson Hawks answered with a 10-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Miller to take a 27-17 lead with just over six minutes left in the frame. The scoring on the run was done by Miller and senior forward
Marko Krivacevic, who each made a 3-pointer and scored five points.
The Crimson Hawks ended the half with another run, taking a nine-point lead with 2:21 left before scoring nine of the next 10 points to grab momentum heading to the locker room with a 41-24 lead.
Slippery Rock All-American Micah Till shot just 3-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the foul line, scoring 10 points before leaving the game just before halftime due to injury.
A 13-5 run by the Crimson Hawks opened the second half with five different players chipping in to put them on top 54-29. One of those scorers came from senior guard
Greg Bearer, who knocked down a 3-pointer in his return to the lineup after missing the last eight games due to injury.
The Crimson Hawks kept rolling, using a 10-0 to go on top by 30 points and led by as many as 31 to secure the big win.
Miller shot 7-of-17 from the floor and went 5-of-6 from the foul line. He added four assists and two steals in 35 total minutes.
Diaz chipped in 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with a couple of 3-pointers, also grabbing eight rebounds.
IUP shot 50 percent from the floor and outrebounded SRU 46-to-25 to overcome 22 turnovers offensively.
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 6 in the NABC and No. 6 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … IUP has won 30 straight home games over The Rock with their last loss coming in 1992 … Coach
Joe Lombardi improved to 295-99 (.749) for his career and is just five wins shy of becoming the third active PSAC coach with 300 career victories … He is 24-7 lifetime against SRU, including 15-0 at home … The Crimson Hawks are the first team in the PSAC to 20 overall wins … The 25.9 field goal percentage from SRU is the lowest by an IUP opponent this season … The plus-21 rebound margin is IUP's largest of the year.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks hit the road for the next two games starting with a trip to Erie to battle Gannon Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is 3 p.m. The Golden Knights are 8-14 overall and fifth in the PSAC West standings with a 6-9 record. They've dropped two straight games after winning five of their previous seven.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
