INDIANA, Pa. – Four Crimson Hawks scored in double-figures to help the ninth-ranked IUP men's basketball team to a 71-56 win over Mercyhurst Monday night in the divisional opener at the Kovalchick Complex.
The Crimson Hawks used contributions from several players and overcame 15 turnovers to get the win and improve to 11-1 overall and 6-1 in conference play. They also took advantage of their home court advantage and are now 8-0 at home.
After falling behind early the Crimson Hawks slowly took control of the game and built their lead, using a 12-3 run to go on top 23-12. Both
Armoni Foster and
Dave Morris knocked down 3-pointers during the run, while
Shawndale Jones added a spark off the bench with four straight points to give IUP the double-digit lead with under nine minutes to play in the half.
The Lakers (6-5, 4-3) tried to cut into their deficit, but
Malik Miller knocked down a trey and
Chucky Humphries had a layup-and-one to keep the lead in double-figures. The Crimson Hawks eventually took a 38-28 lead into the break.
An 11-3 run in the second half gave the Crimson Hawks their largest lead of the game at 54-35 with 12:22 to play. Miller keyed the run with a 3-pointer, later getting another bucket before assisting on a layup by
Ethan Porterfield.
Mercyhurst did respond with an 11-1 run to cut its deficit to seven, but foul shots by Jones and Humphries, followed by a transition dunk by Foster pushed the lead back to double-figures. IUP never looked back.
Who stood out
Foster again led the Crimson Hawks in scoring with 18 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line. He added five rebounds and four assists.
Humphries had seven points and a season-high 11 rebounds, coming up huge defensively with three steals and two blocks. He also dished out four assists.
Jones scored 14 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Porterfield went 6-of-9 from the field and scored 13 points to go along with four blocks and Miller had 12 points.
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 9 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … Mercyhurst was the last team to beat IUP on its home court, prematurely ending the Crimson Hawks season last March in the NCAA regional semifinals … IUP is now 27-2 at home since the start of last year … IUP is also 22-1 at home in January in the last six seasons.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks start a three-game road trip Wednesday at Slippery Rock (6-7, 2-5). Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. IUP also heads to Gannon Saturday and Edinboro next Wednesday.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
