INDIANA, Pa. – Redshirt senior Devon Cottrell (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Gateway) tied a career-high with 22 points in leading the No. 5 IUP men’s basketball team to an 83-66 victory over Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Saturday night in front of over 2300 at the Kovalchick Complex.
With the win the Crimson Hawks improve to 21-2 overall and 16-1 in PSAC play. Meanwhile, The Rock falls to 12-11 overall behind an 8-9 mark in league play.
Cottrell made 7-of-10 from the field, including 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He added three rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Sophomore Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding three assists and two steals. Junior Anthony Glover (Toledo, Ohio/St. John’s Jesuit) totaled 13, while sophomore Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) chipped in with 10 points, six assists and three steals.
The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the first half as IUP and Slippery Rock were tied at 6-6 before the Crimson Hawks used a 14-3 run to push the lead to 18-9 with 11:45 to play in the first half. IUP was 6-of-6 from the floor during the run and limited Slippery Rock to just 1-of-5 shooting. A layup from Cottrell pushed the IUP lead to 32-18 at the 6:12-mark. The Crimson Hawks then took a 46-26 halftime lead on a dunk from Diaz at the 1:13-mark.
In the second half, a Merdic Green three-pointer at the 15:49-mark cut the IUP lead to 47-32. The Crimson Hawks answered with an 8-2 run to push the lead to 55-34 after a pair of Cottrell free-throws. The Rock to cut the lead to 17 (60-43) after a pair of free-throws from Naquil Jones midway through the second half. Minutes later a layup from senior Brandon Spain (Baltimore, Md./Glen Burnie) extended the lead to 69-47. From there, The Rock was only able to cut the lead to 14 before the Crimson Hawks finished out the win.
IUP shot a sizzling 68.1 percent (32-of-47) from the floor including 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from beyond the arc. In comparison, Slippery Rock shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from three-point range. The Rock held a 25-20 rebounding margin.
Slippery Rock was led by a team-high 10 points from both Jones and Green.
Up Next
The Crimson Hawks begin a two-game PSAC West road trip when they travel to Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday, February 8, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Men’s Basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPMens_Bball.
Jeff DeBaldo
IUP Volunteer Assistant
Sports Information Director
