INDIANA, Pa. – Senior forward Jacobo Diaz had 18 points and seven rebounds and four Crimson Hawks scored in double-figures as they defeated West Chester 74-65 in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Atlantic Region Championships Saturday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
IUP (30-2) advances to Sunday night's regional semifinal against Mercyhurst at the Kovalchick Complex. Tipoff will be 7:30 p.m.
 
Diaz shot 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line to go along with four assists in 36 minutes.
 
Senior guard Dante Lombardi and junior guard Malik Miller each scored 17 points while redshirt freshman guard Armoni Foster added 10 points off the bench.
 
The Crimson Hawks overcame a slow start as West Chester (22-9) jumped on top 13-2 after four minutes of play.
 
IUP chipped away at that deficit with an 8-0 run and later took a 23-21 on a 3-pointer by Foster with 9:15 to play in the first. The Crimson Hawks held the lead for the rest of the half and used an 11-2 run down the stretch to take a 40-29 lead with two minutes left before the break.
 
The Crimson Hawks led by as many as 14 points in the second half before West Chester took its turn on the comeback trail. The Golden Rams scored six straight points and then went on an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to 62-59 with 5:33 to play.
 
Three straight IUP buckets extended the lead back to nine and the Crimson Hawks went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final minute to ice the win and march on.
 
This was IUP's third win of the season over West Chester, including a PSAC semifinal win last weekend.
 
The Crimson Hawks made nine 3-pointers and went 17-of-23 from the foul line. They made 48 percent from the field in the second half.
 
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