INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP men's basketball team nearly erased a 20-point second half deficit, falling just short after a pair of Derrick James foul shots with four seconds remaining in a 91-89 loss to No. 8/4 Gannon on Saturday at the KCAC.
IUP (14-8, 11-5) received a career-high 31 points from
Ethan Porterfield and a late game-tying triple from
Garvin Clarke in the contest, which saw the Crimson Hawks chip away in the second half for the second consecutive outing. Despite the loss, IUP secured a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament following other results around the league.
Porterfield's career-high scoring output pushed him to third on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,736 points, surpassing Robert Misenko (1,715) in the first half. Clarke added 26 points in 34 minutes, adding nine rebounds and seven assists for IUP.
The duo of Porterfield and Clarke accounted for 57 points on the night, posting 42 combined points after halftime to fuel the comeback effort. Gannon (21-12, 15-2) seemed poised to breeze past the Crimson Hawks again on Saturday, much like the team's 84-58 win back on January 13 in Erie.
Firmly in control at 67-47, Gannon continued wearing down the Crimson Hawks with an 18-7 blitz. IUP did not relent, finding another gear and using a much-needed 15-4 response in the second half to get back within 75-71.
Josh Omojofo took control for Gannon down the stretch, posting 13 points in just 15 minutes during the second half. Many of those baskets came on acrobatic drives through traffic for Omojofo, who finished with 16 points on the night.
Omojofo's fifth foul came on the offensive end with 38 seconds left, giving IUP a chance to level the score at 89 on Clarke's aforementioned trey. James slashed the lane and drew contact on the ensuing Gannon possession and cooly converted the go-ahead foul shots for the 91-89 final margin, providing the Knights their second 10-game winning streak of the season.
IUP rattled off several stretches in the second half where it chipped away at its sizable deficit. Among those spurts was a 7-3 surge with around two minutes left for the Hawks, which finished 60.6% from the floor with just 12 turnovers.
Zach Hobbs fired in 20 points for Gannon and Lyle Tipton added 13.
Jaylen Stewart had nine points for IUP, while
Josh Petteno chipped in eight points and five rebounds off the bench.
A 10-2 first half charge carried IUP to a 17-12 advantage, highlighted by triples from
KJ Rhodes and
Sarp Furtun. Gannon took control in the first half with 13-1 spurt, systematically opening up a 37-28 advantage with 3:21 left in the opening stanza. That run put the Knights in front for the rest of the game until Clarke worked the score tied late in the second half.
IUP welcomed back members of the 1973-74 PSAC Championship squad at the game, who celebrated their 50th anniversary season with a halftime ceremony.
Up Next
IUP looks to stop a two-game slide, returning to action at the KCAC on Wednesday, February 14 against UPJ. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP men's basketball on X (Twitter) @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_MBB.
