INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP men's basketball program pushed its winning streak to five straight, holding off a second half push from Mansfield for a 77-59 win in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover play on Monday night at the KCAC.
IUP (6-3, 3-0) slowly pulled away into the second half, leading for 39:38 in the contest.
Ethan Porterfield became the 14th player in program history to reach 1,500 career points at IUP, securing the scoring milestone with a triple from the right wing in the second half.
Porterfield finished with a game-high 22 points in his 99th career start for the Hawks, adding seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
Dallis Dillard posted a game-high +16 rating with 16 points and seven rebounds, while
Jordan Lambert and
Garvin Clarke notched 11 points apiece.Leading by 15 at the half, IUP found some consistency from beyond the arc, finishing 13-of-28 (46.4%) from deep.
Lambert has a breakout first half for IUP, while Clarke had an up and down game with six rebounds, nine assists, eight turnovers and five steals. The Hawks shot 50% for the game while Mansfield (3-5, 1-2) finished at a 39.2% clip for the game.
The Hawks won the rebounding battle again with a 36-29 margin and responded following each Mansfield flurry over the last 20 minutes. Idris Ali racked up a team-high 18 points for the Mountaineers with Saraj Ali and Gabe Perez posting seven points apiece.
Shooting at a 48.1% clip in the opening half, IUP took a 40-25 lead into the locker room, its biggest of the stanza. Mansfield made just two field goals over the last 3:21 of the opening half, shooting 35.7% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Lambert had the hot hand for the Crimson Hawks with 11 first half points (3-3 3FG), surpassing his scoring output in his initial four games as a Crimson Hawk. Porterfield started strong from the floor, posting nine first half points with Clarke and Dillard adding seven each in a well-balanced output.
Mansfield's only lead of the contest came on a driving score from Idris Ali for a 4-3 advantage at the 15:57 mark. IUP promptly countered with a timely 8-2 spurt that includes triples from Porterfield and Dillard, stretching the advantage to 11-7.
The Mounties remained within striking distance until around the 11-minute mark of the opening half before IUP ballooned its edge to double figures. A stepback triple from Lambert pushed the lead to 31-17 before Clarke converted a stepback shot through contact, converting the four-point play for a 45-20 edge.
IUP struggled to pull away substantially as Mansfield methodically chipped away at points in the second half, getting back within 50-40 with 13:11 remaining. Lambert found Clarke for an alley-oop basket in transition, pushing the Hawks to a 52-40 lead and providing a spark of momentum at the under-12 media timeout.
Mansfield would not be able to trim the deficit below double digits as the Hawks closed out the victory.
Up Next
IUP finishes out the home portion of the 2023 schedule on Tuesday, December 18 for a matchup with Bloomsburg on December 19 at 7:30.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP men's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
