ERIE, Pa. – The Crimson Hawks outscored Mercyhurst 39-28 in the second half, but a big halftime deficit was too much for fifth-ranked IUP men's basketball in a 68-62 loss to the Lakers on the road Saturday afternoon.
 
IUP committed nine first half turnovers and trailed by 17 points at halftime as the Lakers shot 57 percent with seven 3-pointers to take a 40-23 lead into the locker room. Mercyhurst's Zach McIntyre, who scored seven points in the season's first meeting between these two teams, had 11 points at the break and finished with a season-high 28.
 
The loss was the first for the Crimson Hawks in 2020 as their nine-game win streak came to an end. They fall to 18-2 overall and still hold a two-game lead in the division with a 13-2 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) record.
 
The Lakers pushed their lead to 21 points early in the second half before IUP made its comeback attempt.
 
The Hawks responded to that 21-point deficit with a 9-0 run to make it a 44-32 game with a 3-pointer by freshman forward Ethan Porterfield. The run continued with back-to-back buckets by sophomore guard Armoni Foster, followed by scores from Porterfield and junior guard Shawndale Jones, as the Hawks closed it to seven at 47-40 with 11 minutes left.
 
Mercyhurst grabbed back the momentum and built its lead to 15 points with just under six minutes to play. Foster stopped the run with a 3-pointer and with three minutes to play hit another trey to make it a 64-56 ballgame.
 
Porterfield got the deficit down to six points with 26 seconds to play and a bucket by sophomore guard Dave Morris made it 67-62 with 15 seconds left. But IUP couldn't close the gap any further with a turnover and missed 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds.
 
IUP shot 46 percent from the floor and made 10-of-12 from the foul line in the second half. The defense forced the Lakers into nine second half turnovers while limiting them to 36 percent shooting during the comeback attempt.
 
Who stood out
Foster led all IUP players with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists. He also had two steals in 39 minutes. It was his 10th 20-point game of the season.
 
Porterfield tied his season-high with 17 points on 6-of-9 field goals, adding five rebounds and three blocks.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 5 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 4 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … IUP now has two nine-game win streaks this season … This is the second straight regular season split with Mercyhurst with the Hawks going 3-3 against the Lakers (including postseason) the last two years.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks are off for a week before returning to action next Saturday at home against Slippery Rock (10-11, 6-9). It's IUP basketball alumni night at the KCAC with tipoff at 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.