INDIANA, Pa. - IUP head coach
Joe Lombardi picked up his 350th career victory as the No. 4-ranked IUP men's basketball team defeated visiting Edinboro 76-67 at the Kovalchick Complex Wednesday night.
Playing in their first home game this month after six straight road games, the Crimson Hawks improved to 16-2 overall and 10-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. It was the sixth straight loss for Edinboro as the Fighting Scots fell to 5-10 and 3-7.
Lombardi's 350th win came in his 455th game, as he's now 350-105 with a .769 win percentage. The 350 wins are tied with East Stroudsburg's Jeff Wilson (350-185) for seventh in PSAC history. Wilson has been at ESU since 2002, Lombardi started coaching at IUP in 2006. Roger Goodling, who coached at Shippensburg from 1971-2001, is sixth with 356 wins and Bill Brown of Cal U (1996-2016) is fifth at 365.
How it happened
Neither team had an easy time finding the bottom of the net in the first half of play as the Hawks and Scots combined to shoot 22-of-74 - 29.7 percent - in the first 20 minutes.
IUP got its early points by way of the 3-pointer as the first five field goals all came from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward
Ethan Porterfield knocked down two, while junior guards
Armoni Foster and
Dave Morris and freshman guard
Dallis Dillard each had one.
The Hawks tough defense smothered Edinboro as they got out to a 28-12 lead with seven minutes to go in the half. The Scots got back into the game as IUP scored just four more points before the break and went into the locker room with a 32-24 lead.
IUP hit back-to-back 3-pointers out of the gate in the second half as Morris and Foster put the Hawks on top by 14. The lead reached 19 points at 46-27 moments later when Foster again connected from deep as the Hawks opened the second half with a 14-3 run.
But IUP had another scoreless drought, going 6:25 without a point to help Edinboro get back to within single digits at 49-39 with just over 11 minutes to play. The Scots picking away at their deficit to eventually cut the IUP lead to 61-57 with under four minutes to play, but a 7-0 run by the Hawks gave them some breathing room as they held off an Edinboro upset bid.
IUP shot a season-low 38 percent (27-of-71) from the floor, but hit 16 3-pointers to make up for the lack of production. The Hawks also tallied a season-high 11 blocks and forced Edinboro to shoot 37.0 percent, including 5-of-21 from 3.
Who stood out
Morris tallied career-highs of 23 points and six 3-pointers. He finished with a 7-of-15 shooting night to go along with five rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. It was his fourth 20-point game in his last seven outings.
Foster scored 21 points to go along with eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes. It was his ninth 20-point game of the season and sixth in the last eight games.
Porterfield picked up his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. He also had a career-high six blocks.
Notes
IUP entered the game ranked No. 4 in the NABC Coaches and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls ... This was IUP's 24th win in the last 26 meetings with Edinboro ... Lombardi improved to 23-8 lifetime against the Fighting Scots ... The 16 3-pointers is tied for the sixth most in program history ... IUP also made 18 threes - tied for fourth - at Seton Hill last week ... Foster moved into 23rd place in IUP history with 1,260 career points ... Foster is one point shy of tying Jason Bullock (1,261; 1992-96) for 22nd and 20 points away from Devante Chance (1,280; 2011-15) for 21st ... IUP is 57-4 in January over the last six seasons, including 26-1 at home.
Up next
IUP has a rematch with Mercyhurst (17-3, 11-3 PSAC) on tap this Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Hawks won a battle of top-10 teams on January 12 in Erie, defeating the Lakers 70-67. Mercyhurst is now ranked No. 21 in this week's NABC poll.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men's Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
