INDIANA, Pa. – Junior guard Anthony Glover scored 21 points in leading the second-ranked IUP men’s basketball team to a 74-58 victory over Clarion in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Wednesday night at the Kovalchick Complex.
(Photo: Anthony Glover IUP)
With the win, the Crimson Hawks to 25-2 overall and 19-1 in league play. The victory is the 16th consecutive win for IUP and is the longest winning streak under head coach Joe Lombardi. The win also ties the program mark for most regular season wins matching the 1993-94 and 2009-10 teams. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles fall to 7-20 behind a 4-17 league mark.
Glover was 7-of-11 from beyond the arc and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Redshirt senior Devon Cottrell scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Sophomore Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) added 12 points on 5-of-9 from the floor. He added 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Redshirt junior Blake Danielak chipped in with 11 points in just 14 minutes.
Danielak gave IUP an early 7-2 lead with a layup at the 14:35-mark. Clarion answered with a 6-0 run to take an 8-7 lead after a pair of free-throws from Jamani Pierce. The Crimson Hawks answered with a 13-1 run to push the lead to 20-8 at the 8:35-mark after a dunk from Diaz. IUP was 5-of-9 from the floor during the run while holding Clarion to 0-of-5 from the field. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 24-15 on a pair of free-throws from BJ Andrews before the Crimson Hawks finished the half on a 14-2 run to take a 38-17 halftime lead.
Diaz started the second half with a three-pointer to put IUP ahead 41-17 less than a minute into the half. A pair of free-throws from Cameron Grumley cut the Crimson Hawks lead to 41-24 at the 17:16-mark. Cottrell put the Crimson Hawks back up by 20 (45-25). Clarion cut the lead back down to 16 on two occasions before IUP pushed the lead back to 20 (57-37) midway through the half. From there, the Crimson Hawk lead never dipped below 16 points on the way to the win.
IUP shot at a 47.5 percent (29-of-61) clip. In comparison, Clarion shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the floor. The Crimson Hawks held a slim 34-31 rebounding margin.
Grumley led Clarion with a game-high 22 points.
DESPITE STRONG GAME FROM JONES-CAREY WOMEN LOSE
INDIANA, Pa. – Junior guard/forward Megan Smith scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading the IUP women’s basketball team to a 68-57 victory over Clarion on Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play at the Kovalchick Complex.
With the win, the Crimson Hawks secure a first-round bye into next week’s PSAC tournament quarterfinals and improve to 20-5 overall and 18-3 in league play. The win gives IUP its third consecutive 20-win season under head coach Tom McConnell and the 10th overall 20-win season since 1998-99. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles fall to 14-13 behind an 11-10 league mark.
Smith was 8-of-14 from the floor while adding one assist and one block. Sophomore Brittany Robinson scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds, three blocks and three assists. Redshirt sophomore Lauren Wolosik added 17 points, nine rebounds, three steals and one assist.
Robinson tied the game at 4-4 early in the first quarter. Clarion answered by taking a 9-6 lead after a pair of free-throws from Jen Straw at the 7:24-mark. That was the beginning to a 12-6 Golden Eagle run that pushed the Clarion lead to 20-12 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. The Crimson Hawks countered with a 10-2 run from the close of the first quarter to the 7:38-mark of the second quarter that tied the game at 22-22 after Robinson converted a three-point play. IUP took a 35-24 halftime lead after the Crimson Hawks finished the half on a 13-2 run. During the run IUP shot 5-of-10 from the floor while limiting Clarion to just 1-of-7 shooting.
A layup from sophomore Carolyn Appleby pushed the lead to 15 (39-24) in the first minute of the third quarter. The Golden Eagles then cut the lead to just 41-36 after a three-pointer from Jordan Bekelja at the 4:30-mark. After IUP went up seven (50-43), Clarion was once again able to cut the lead as the Golden Eagles pulled to within 50-47 on a layup from Straw with 8:15 to play in the fourth quarter. An 11-0 Crimson Hawks run extended the lead to 61-47 midway through the fourth quarter. Clarion cut the lead to six before IUP earned the win.
IUP shot at a 42.4 percent (25-of-59) clip. In comparison, Clarion shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the floor. The Golden Eagles held a slim 37-35 rebounding margin.
Delrika Jones-Carey led Clarion with a team-high 17 points and 13 rebounds.
