INDIANA, Pa. - Junior guard Armoni Foster and sophomore forward Ethan Porterfield each scored 27 points to lead the No. 4 IUP men's basketball team to an 83-50 victory over visiting Gannon Monday night at the Kovalchick Complex. 

Playing in their sixth game in the last 13 days, the Crimson Hawks never trailed and led by double-figures for more than 34 of the game's 40 minutes. They had another huge game from behind the arc, finishing with 15 3-pointers on the night.

It was their third straight win and ninth in their last 10 games as they improved to 18-2 overall and 12-2 in PSAC play. Gannon fell to 9-7 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

How it happened
IUP made four of its first six shots to take a quick 10-3 lead before opening things side open with 14 straight points to take a 24-6 lead at the 12:31 mark of the opening half.

The big run came over a 2:18 stretch as the Hawks made four straight buckets, including three 3-pointers, and went 3-of-3 from the foul line. The IUP defense also forced Gannon into three turnovers and two more missed shots during its run.

The lead reached 22 points at 33-11 when Porterfield knocked down one of his career-high seven 3-pointers at the 9:24 mark. Foster added another trey moments later then followed with a layup to give the Hawks a 38-11 lead. IUP then scored seven straight points to get its lead to 30 points before taking a 45-20 advantage into the locker room. 

The Hawks shot 50 percent from the field in the first half while limiting Gannon to just 5-of-26 shooting. 

Gannon came out motivated in the second half, closing the gap to 19 points with just under 15 minutes to play, but IUP responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Porterfield and junior guard Dave Morris and later went on a 13-0 run to put the game completely out of reach.

The Hawks held Gannon to a season-low 27.3 percent (15-of-55) from the field, including 4-of-20 from 3-point range. IUP also forced Gannon into 16 turnovers and held a 43-to-34 advantage on the glass. 

Who stood out
Foster scored his 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and went a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line. He added eight assists, four rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes. It was 11th game of 20-plus points this season, including the eighth in his last 10 games. 

Porterfield finished 9-of-15 from the field, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range. The seven treys made is the most by an IUP player since Dante Lombardi drilled eight in a win at East Stroudsburg on January 16, 2019. Porterfield also grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists in 28 minutes. 

Notes
IUP entered the game ranked No. 4 in the NABC Coaches and No. 3 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls ... IUP head coach Joe Lombardi improved to 20-11 lifetime against Gannon, including eight straight home wins in the series by an average of 13.4 points ... IUP improved to 3-0 against Erie teams (Mercyhurst and Gannon) this year ... IUP has three games of 15-plus 3-pointers in their last six games, and is averaging a PSAC-best 9.8 treys per game this season ... Foster moved into 19th place in IUP history with 1,317 career points (Lee McCullough, 18th, 1319) ... 

Up next
IUP will play a home-and-home with Slippery Rock (11-6, 7-4 PSAC) coming up, playing on the road Saturday at 3 p.m. before hosting The Rock Monday at 7 p.m.

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