INDIANA, Pa. – In what was arguably the biggest test of the season, the top-ranked IUP men's basketball team passed with flying colors, securing an 80-67 victory over a quality Mercyhurst side on Saturday afternoon at the KCAC.
 
IUP (13-0, 7-0) eventually established its trademark defense after an up and down offensive start for both sides. The Hawks ultimately limited Mercyhurst (9-2, 5-2) to 38.3% shooting and just 30.3% in the second half.
 
IUP placed four scorers in double figures, led by a team-high 21 points from Dave Morris. Morris was one of several standout performers for IUP, which received key contributions from Shawndale Jones, Ethan Porterfield and Tomiwa Sulaiman in the team's fourth consecutive victory over the Lakers.
 
Jones dropped in 19 points (8-16 FG), adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Porterfield logged his highest scoring output since December 2 with 17 points, chipping in seven rebounds, three assists and a block.
 
Mercyhurst got 23 points from Aidan Reichert off the bench, while Nicholas Lang and Jeff Planutis added 12 apiece. The Lakers used some hot shooting early to work the score tied multiple times in the opening half, later jumping ahead 18-14 before IUP responded back. While tightly contested, IUP led for nearly 38 minutes of the game and held the Lakers without an offensive rebound in the first half.
 
Dallis Dillard pushed the hosts to an 8-2 lead with a layup before the Lakers worked the game tied at eight, 11 and 13. Consecutive hoops from Lang pushed the Lakers in front briefly before IUP countered with a 12-0 run over the next four minutes. Morris and Kyle Polce capped the scoring run with triples for IUP, which strung together some defensive stops to move back in front at 26-18.
 
A go-ahead pass from Porterfield to Jones handed momentum back to the Crimson Hawks, weathering a charge from Mercyhurst, for a 35-28 advantage. Despite Mercyhurst clawing back again, IUP took a 39-34 edge into the halftime break.
 
The second half is when the Hawks asserted themselves in a big way on the defensive end. Mercyhurst trimmed its deficit to one at 42-41 following a Michael Bradley basket before IUP responded with nine of the next 11 points.
 
The Lakers continued to hang around until the Hawks eventually moved ahead by double figures at 4:32 on a jumper from Jones. On the next offensive possession, Dillard found Sulaiman for a dunk along the low block at 3:51 for a 69-57 lead. The Hawks held onto the double digits lead over the final few minutes with some accurate shooting from the foul line.
 
Mercyhurst has allowed a team to score at least 80 points just one other time this season, coming in an 84-73 road loss at Millersville on December 30. IUP controlled the glass with a 37-28 edge in rebounding and a 32-20 advantage in paint points.
 
Up Next
IUP hits the road to face a hungry Gannon squad that is winless on the season, visiting the Highmark Events Center on Wednesday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m.
 
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