ERIE, Pa. - IUP lost its second half double-digit lead in less than six minutes, but used a slashing layup and free throw by
Armoni Foster in the closing minute to come away with a 70-67 win at Mercyhurst in a battle of top-10 Division II squads Wednesday night.
Both teams entered the night with one loss apiece with the Crimson Hawks ranked 10th and the Lakers seventh in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) top-25 poll.
IUP improved to 13-1 overall and took over the top spot in the PSAC West standings with a 7-1 conference record. Mercyhurst dropped to 13-2 and 7-2.
This was IUP's first win over a top-10 team since defeating Kutztown twice during the 2016-17 season - first a 77-76 road win with the Golden Bears ranked No. 8 in the NABC poll and the second in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Fairmont, W.Va. with KU ranked No. 9 by the coaches.
How it happened
Foster opened up the night with a dunk on IUP's first possession to highlight a 12-2 run to start the game. The Hawks later held a 21-11 lead after a 3-pointer by junior guard
Dave Morris, but Mercyhurst used the trey to get back into it and cut IUP's lead to 26-23 with 6:41 left in the first half.
The first half remained close with IUP not getting up by any more than seven points. A trey by freshman guard
Kyle Polce in the final minute helped give the Hawks a 38-33 lead going into the half.
The Lakers cut IUP's lead to one early in the second half but the Hawks responded with an 11-0 run, including an
Ethan Porterfield 3-pointer and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, to grab a 50-38 lead with 16:20 to play.
IUP later led by 11 points but after a 16-5 run from the Lakers over a 5:57 span, the game was knotted up at 59-59 with just over seven minutes to play. The Hawks didn't give up the lead, however, responding to each Mercyhurst bucket or free throw with points of their own on the offensive end.
After the Lakers made it a 67-66 game with 1:20 to play, junior guard
Armoni Foster converted a layup after a drive down the right side of the lane to get the lead back to three points. Back-to-back turnovers led to Mercyhurst splitting a trip to the free throw line with 20 seconds to go to make it a 69-67 game. Foster followed by making 1-of-2 at the line on the other end and after a timeout, the Lakers' failed on their attempt to tie the game at the buzzer to give IUP the victory.
Who stood out
Foster finished with 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes. He shot 8-of-17 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. It was his fourth straight 20-point game of the season.
Porterfield added 19 points, going 7-of-10 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. Freshman forward
Tomiwa Sulaiman came off the bench to score eight points and grab six boards.
Notes
IUP entered the game ranked No. 10 in the NABC Coaches and No. 8 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls ... IUP is 6-4 in games against top-25 opponents since the 2016-17 season ... Foster moved into 25th place in IUP history with 1,179 career points ... IUP head coach
Joe Lombardi is now 21-10 lifetime against Mercyhurst, including 7-7 in Erie ... IUP has won 10 of the last 13 games against Mercyhurst, going 4-1 on the road ... IUP is 54-3 in January over the last six seasons, including 29-2 on the road.
Up next
The Hawks return home to host Gannon (8-3, 5-2) this Saturday at the Kovalchick Complex. Tipoff is 3:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
