KUTZTOWN, Pa. - Junior guard Armoni Foster went over 1,000 career points and helped lead a second half surge as the seventh-ranked IUP men's basketball team opened conference play with an 86-73 win at Kutztown Friday night. 

Foster become the 35th player in program history to achieve the milestone, reaching it in just his 72nd career game. He needed just 14 points to reach the feat, with the milestone coming on a layup with 7:35 to play. 

The Crimson Hawks improved to 6-0 with the victory.

How it happened
It was a back-and-forth first half, with the Crimson Hawks' largest lead of seven points at 17-10 quickly shrinking as Kutztown went on top 25-24 with 6:10 to play. IUP did finish the half on a 9-2 run to take a 39-35 lead into the break.

The Hawks responded to the close game by starting the second half on 9-2 run with buckets from Foster, Shawndale Jones, Tommy Demogerontas and Kyle Polce. IUP mostly kept its lead in double-figures the rest of the way, but Kutztown fought back several times, cutting its deficit to eight at 61-53 at the midway point. 

IUP shot over 54 percent (19-35) and scored 47 points in the second half to put the game away. Jones scored 18 of those points on 7-9 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line. 

Who stood out
Foster posted his third double-double of the year with 18 points and 10 rebounds on his special night. He finished 7-14 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line, adding three assists in 39  minutes.

Not to be outdone, Jones scored 29 points on 12-17 shooting, also going 4-4 from the foul line. He added five rebounds and two steals. Demogerontas scored 16 points on 7-12 shooting and Ethan Porterfield added 13 points and eight rebounds. 

Notes
IUP entered the game ranked No. 7 in the NABC Coaches and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls ... This was IUP's fourth straight win over Kuztown ... IUP improved to 12-3 in PSAC openers under head coach Joe Lombardi ... The 86 points is IUP's lowest output of the season ... The Hawks entered the weekend ranked sixth in Division II with 95.6 points per game ... This was Jones' fifth straight game of 20-plus points ... He leads the PSAC with 26.2 points per game.

Up next
The Crimson Hawks will play at West Chester Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.