Men's Basketball | 3/11/2017 11:42:00 PM
Box Score
IUP Postgame
Kutztown Postgame
By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com
FAIRMONT – Fourth-seeded and No. 8 ranked Indiana (Pa.) University led from wire to wire Saturday evening in a 94-80 victory over fifth-seeded and 10th-ranked Kutztown (Pa.) University in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional at Fairmont State's Joe Retton Arena.
The win was the 19th in 20 games for the Crimson Hawks, who improved to 28-3 and will square off with top-seeded Fairmont State (30-2) in the semifinals of the regional Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. FSU toppled eighth-seeded Bowie State Saturday, 93-67.
IUP and FSU met once during the regular season with the Falcons recording a 91-81 overtime victory over the Crimson Hawks in Indiana back in December. After that, IUP reeled off 18 straight wins before falling in overtime to Shippensburg (Pa.) University in the PSAC Tournament. Shippensburg and Wheeling Jesuit will meet in the other regional semifinal Sunday.
"I think Fairmont has more natural talent than any team in the region the last nine years," veteran IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. "They're the most athletic team in the region during that span, including the two 'Elite Eight' teams we had.
"They also have a really good home court atmosphere. They've done a good job of building their program and I feel this is their tournament for the taking. We're just happy to have a chance to go out there and have a chance to compete against them."
Saturday IUP connected on its first five field goal attempts and got a pair of free throws from Devon Cottrell to quickly build a 13-4 lead less than four minutes into the game. Kutztown battled back and got within three, but on this night for every rally by the Golden Bears the Crimson Hawks had an answer. IUP eventually got its first-half lead to 13 before settling for a six-point, 45-39, lead at the break.
In the second half Kutztown trimmed the lead to three early, but IUP responded with a 12-2 run to push it back to 13 with 15:23 remaining. The Golden Bears never quit and got within seven with 4:18 to play and had chances, but couldn't cash in on buckets around the rim and free throws down the stretch. Kutztown finished the game 16-of-32 at the foul line, including a dismal 10-of-21 performance in the second half. As a result, IUP pulled away and ended the game on an 11-4 spurt to win by 14.
"You can't shoot 16-of-32 from the foul line and win a game," Kutztown head coach Bernie Driscoll said. "You can't miss as many layups as we did and win a game and not defend the arc. Give IUP a lot of credit. They played hard and they're moving on."
IUP shot a hot 57.9 percent from the field (33-of-57) and connected on 14-of-24 3-point field goals. The Crimson Hawks were led by Dante Lombardi, who finished with a game-high 26 points, 12 of which came off of four 3-pointers. IUP also got 16 points from Cottrell, 15 points from Blake Danielak, 14 points from Anthony Glover and 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds from Jacobo Diaz.
"We feel very fortunate to beat a very good Kutztown team and a top 10 team in the country," Lombardi said. "They've proven themselves all year long to be worthy of that. They're a veteran team which is well coached and they have a lot of weapons.
"I thought our defense played very well tonight. That gave us a chance to win. On offense I thought we shared the ball, passed the ball well and as a result we had a nice offensive flow."
Kutztown, which finished its season at 26-4, was led by Max Wagner's 14 points. The Golden Bears also got 13 points from both Anthony Lee and Ethan Ridgeway, 12 points from Josh Johnson and 11 from Dan Cuevas.
With the win IUP improved to 10-2 in first-round NCAA Regional games, including 7-1 under the guidance of Lombardi, who guided the Crimson Hawks to Atlantic Regional Championships and national championship game appearances in both 2010 and 2015.
Â
