UPDATE: Last night at the NCAA’s selection show, IUP was selected to be host of the Atlantic Regional, which will be begin this Saturday. Top-seeded IUP (30-1) will play host to No. 8 Winston-Salem (21-8) at 5 p.m. at the KCAC and on U92.5 FM and streaming audio on U92radio.com.
In other first-round games, No. 4 Virginia Union (23-7) takes on No. 5 Fairmont State (25-6), No, 2 West Liberty plays No. 7 Pitt-Johnstown (20-10) and No. 2 Mercyhurst (24-5) battles No. 6 East Stroudsburg (23-8).
ORIGINALLY REPORTED:
Despite a late scoring drought, the IUP Crimson Hawks men’s basketball team held on to defeat Mercyhurst, 54-53, Sunday afternoon at Shippensburg University to claim its fourth consecutive PSAC championship.
IUP (30-1) claimed its 13th conference championship and secured an automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA DII Tournament, which begins late next week.
Ethan Porterfield was named tournament MVP, finishing the championship game with 19 points (9-11 FG), four rebounds and two assists in leading the Crimson Hawks throughout the weekend. Porterfield won the tournament MVP award for the second year in a row.
Here’s Jack Benedict with the recap and coverage from the final seconds of the game.
The championship almost eluded IUP in the final seconds. A three-point shot by Michael Bradley bounced off the rim as time expired, leaving Mercyhurst (24-5) just short. Here’s Jack again with that final call.
Nicholas Lang scored 16 points and made five steals for Mercyhurst, while Bradley added 13 points for the Lakers.
IUP will continue its season in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region Tournament.
The selection show takes place tonight at 11:00 p.m. IUP was ranked atop the last set of regional rankings and is essentially a lock to be the top seed in the Atlantic Region.
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