ERIE, Pa. – Sophomore guards Armoni Foster and Dave Morris combined for 43 points and with red-hot second half performances lifted the ninth-ranked IUP men's basketball team to an 85-64 win at Gannon Saturday night at the Hammermill Center.
 
The win was the fourth straight for the Crimson Hawks as they improved to 13-1 overall and remained in a first place tie in the PSAC West with an 8-1 league record. Gannon fell to 6-7 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
 
It was a tight game through 20 minutes of action with the halftime difference a 3-pointer by Ethan Porterfield as the buzzer sounded that gave the Crimson Hawks a 33-30 lead. IUP shot less than 36 percent from the field and turned the ball over seven times in the first half. IUP also went just 4-of-17 from 3-point range.
 
That all changed in the second half as the Crimson Hawks made five of their first seven field goal attempts in the second half to take a 47-40 lead. After a 6-0 Gannon run to make it a one-point game, IUP broke the game wide open by scoring on six straight possessions and going on a 14-0 run.
 
Foster led the way on the run, scoring the first eight points on a 3-pointer, a jumper and a layup-and-one. Morris followed with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to give IUP a 60-46 lead with 11 minutes to play.
 
The 3-pointers kept coming, with Malik Miller knocking one down while Morris drilled two more as the Crimson Hawks went on a 13-6 run to get their lead to an unreachable 20 points with 6:30 to play.
 
IUP ended up shooting over 70 percent (19-of-27) from the field in the second half, including 8-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
Who stood out
Foster finished with a game-high 24 points, going 8-of-10 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and 6-of-9 from the foul line. He added five rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes. It was his seventh 20-point game of the year, including his third in the last four games.
 
Morris scored a career-high 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting, making four 3-pointers and going 5-of-6 from the foul line.
 
Miller added 14 points and Shawndale Jones scored 12 points off the bench.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 9 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 9 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … This was IUP's sixth win of 20-plus points, including its third against a PSAC opponent … This was IUP's eighth straight conference road win.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have their third of three straight road games next Wednesday with a matchup at Edinboro (5-8, 2-7). Tipoff is 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.