INDIANA, Pa. – Seniors Dante Lombardi and Jacobo Diaz combined for 47 points and led the second-ranked IUP men's basketball team to a 72-59 win over Seton Hill as the Crimson Hawks celebrated Senior Night Saturday at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
Lombardi scored a game-high 27 points while Diaz finished with 20 to star in their final home regular season game.
 
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division champion Crimson Hawks wrapped up their regular season with a 26-2 record, including 19-2 mark in the league.
 
The Griffins (9-18, 7-14 PSAC) proved to be a tough out, keeping their turnovers low to stay within arm's reach nearly the entire night.
 
The game was tied at 12-12 after the first six minutes of play but the Crimson Hawks used a 12-3 run, with Diaz slamming one down to take a 24-15 lead less than eight minutes later.
 
Seton Hill chipped away at that lead, outscoring IUP 12-3 over the next 4:31 to tie things up at 27-27. The game went into the locker room with the Crimson Hawks holding onto a 31-30 lead.
 
It remained a tight contest in the early going of the second half as the Crimson Hawks couldn't gain any separation.
 
A layup-and-one by Lombardi was answered with Seton Hill 3-pointer. A 7-2 run by the Crimson Hawks that gave them a 45-38 lead quickly turned into just a 3-point lead at 45-42 after two straight scores by the Griffins.
 
With the score tight going past the midway point of the half, Lombardi and Diaz took over. The duo scored on seven of eight IUP possessions over a five minute time frame, answering buckets by the Griffins to keep the Crimson Hawks in front at 62-56 going into the final media timeout.
 
After that break in action, senior Marko Krivacevic went 1-of-2 from the line, with his miss gathered by Diaz converted an and-one on a dunk to give the Crimson Hawks a 66-56 lead with 3:08 to play.
 
That sequence was part of 13-5 run for the Crimson Hawks, which was capped by a 3-pointer by Lombardi to ice the game at 69-56 with 1:46 to play.
 
The lead reached as many as 15 in the final minute as senior Lombardi, Diaz, Willem Brandwijk, Greg Bearer, Todd Fetsko and Krivacevic were all given standing ovations during late-game subbing.
 
Lombardi went 10-of-16 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line for an efficient shooting night.
 
Diaz finished 8-of-13 and knocked down three 3-pointers to go along with six rebounds.
 
The Crimson Hawks won the battle on the glass 36-to-23, with junior forward Chucky Humphries gabbing a season-high 10.
 
2018-19 Senior Class
Prior to the game seniors Lombardi, Diaz, Brandwijk, Bearer, Fetsko and Krivacevic were honored. This year's senior class is 97-22 over the last four seasons with four straight PSAC West regular season titles and are on the verge of their third NCAA tournament appearance.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks are No. 2 in the NABC and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … They are also No. 1 in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings for the second straight week … The Crimson Hawks ended the regular season with a 15-1 home record … IUP head coach Joe Lombardi improved to 15-1 lifetime against Seton Hill, including 9-0 at home … IUP swept the regular season series with Seton Hill by a combined score of 157-131 … Lombardi averaged 25.0 points against the Griffins this year … Lombardi also became the 12th player in program history to score 1,500 career points … Diaz moved into third place in IUP history with 1,683 career points.
 
Up next
The postseason begins for the Crimson Hawks in the PSAC quarterfinals Wednesday, March 6. IUP earned a first round bye and home court advantage throughout the tournament, and will host the winner No. 4 seed Pitt-Johnstown and No. 5 seed Gannon. If the Crimson Hawks win, they'll host PSAC Championship weekend March 9-10.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.