INDIANA, Pa. – Top-seeded IUP men's basketball had its outstanding season come to a close, falling to a focused West Liberty side by a 70-53 score here Tuesday at the KCAC.
IUP (32-2) could not close the gap against a hounding West Liberty (31-3) press. The Crimson Hawks were held scoreless over the final 8:24 of the game as the Hilltoppers expanded the advantage to a double-digit margin.
Bryce Butler, the Atlantic Region Tournament MVP, carried the Hilltoppers to the tune of 30 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Christian Montague and Zach Rasile followed with eight points for WLU, which shot 50% for the game and led for 34 minutes of the contest.
The Hilltoppers vaulted ahead by 15 points on a triple from Butler at 4:08 in the second half.
Ethan Porterfield and
Tomiwa Sulaiman each recorded double-doubles for IUP, while
Shawndale Jones added 12 first-half points. Porterfield paced the Hawks with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Sulaiman battled for 13 points and 11 boards.
The Hawks remained within striking distance for much of the second half before the Hilltoppers pulled away over the last five minutes of the game. It marked the first meeting between the two programs since IUP knocked off West Liberty inside the ASRC back in 2015.
WLU shot 53.8% from the floor in the second half, pushing the edge to as many as 18 with under two minutes remaining. West Liberty owned the advantage for much of the opening half as well, shooting 46.4% from the floor over the initial 20 minutes. Butler poured in 16 first-half points for the Hilltoppers, adding two boards and two assists.
The Hilltoppers had an answer every time IUP closed the game, down by nine (56-47) with 6:48 remaining in the contest. Porterfield and Jones accounted for 24 of 26 first-half points as IUP shot just 29.6% from the floor in the opening stanza.
West Liberty started to stretch its lead out a bit with around five minutes left in the half, taking its largest lead of the stanza into the intermission. A low scoring game to start, Porterfield raced ahead for a layup that knotted the score at five.
About five minutes later, Porterfield pushed the Hawks ahead 19-18 at the 9:01 mark. West Liberty answered back at 8:39 and did not trail the remainder of the half.
IUP had its 32-game home winning streak snapped, marking a sour end to one of the best seasons in program history. The Hawks became the first team in the PSAC to achieve a number one ranking in the NABC poll since the mid-1990s.
