A Night at the Races

IUP's big second half doesn't make up for slow start in 89-82 loss to Gannon

Once the IUP Crimson Hawks got going, they looked like thoroughbreds.

It’s the break from the gate that makes them look like nags.

IUP followed another slow start with possibly its best 20 minutes of offense in the second half, but Gannon was the stronger horse down the stretch and held off the Hawks, 89-82, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball game at the KCAC on Wednesday night.

Gannon (13-2, 9-0 PSAC), ranked ninth in NCAA Division II, won its 13th straight game, and IUP (7-8, 3-5) dropped its second straight despite challenging the defending conference and Atlantic Region champion until the closing stretch.

“We have this problem with dysfunctional offense in the first half of games,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “Confidence is such a big thing, and I don’t know if it’s just guys have trouble getting settled in. Maybe that’s youth. Maybe that’s inexperience. And we don’t seem to have one guy we can lean on until the guys settle it.”

IUP, a frequent slow starter, shot below 35 percent in the first half and missed an opportunity to make some headway when Gannon was equally poor from the floor. The Golden Knights, who entered the game averaging 98 points per game, scored well below that pace but still held a six-point lead, 35-29, after a first-half slog that featured eight lead chances and four ties.

The second half was an all-out sprint. Both teams shot 68 percent. Gannon made 6 of 8 3-point attempts and scored 54 points and IUP made 5 of 12 and scored 53.

“The story of the game was they shot 68 percent in the second half and 75 percent on 3s,” Lombardi said. “You’re not going to win any games when they do that. I don’t even know how we were in the ballgame.”

The hot shooting helped keep it tight, but defensively IUP didn’t have an answer for Ernest Shelton, a 6-5 sophomore guard who poured in a game-high 29 points, or Lucas Sekasi, a 6-5 freshman who scored 12 above his average with 19. All five Gannon starters reached double figures.

“The game comes down to defense and we’ve got to get stops,” IUP freshman point guard Kymani Merraro said. (Shelton) was killing us.”

Free throw shooting was huge, too. Gannon made 23 of 32 attempts and IUP made only 9 of 21. Four times the Hawks missed two-shot opportunities. In happened three times in the second half, and on two occasions Gannon followed the misses with a 3-pointer, the first erasing IUP’s last lead at the midway point and the second making it a two-possession game with nine minutes to go. The Golden Knights stretched it to two possessions for good a couple minutes later.

“Four different times we missed both ends of it,” Lombardi said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a game that happened. … And it’s deflating when you do that.”

“That hurt us.” IUP’s Christian Moore said. “If we make a couple of those free throws we’re right back in it. We’ll definitely be back in the gym working on that.”

Otherwise, IUP did what it needed to do against a team the employs a full-court press from start to finish and often wears down teams with its up-tempo style and five-for-five substitutions. The Hawks led the rebounding 36-34 and committed only 13 turnovers, 10 fewer than Gannon forces on average. IUP also led the rebounding 36-34 and second-chance scoring 14-9.

“I was confident against them,” Lombardi said. “We handled the pressure well. We’re a low-turnover team so the guys have a feel for that. I’m proud of the way they picked that up. They played like a veteran team as far as getting the ball in and taking care of it.”

Moore, a junior guard, led IUP with 19 points, and Merraro finished with 12 points and eight assists.

Sarp Furton, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Turkey, posted his first career double-double with career highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“Sarp is growing,” Lombardi said. “Sarp is a sophomore and a non-scholarship player that’s starting. Not too many teams do that. Sarp will be getting a scholarship next year. I’m really proud of the way he has been able to contribute.”

Tyler Grove added 10 points and Damir Brooks finished with nine.

Alfonso Pickens Jr. (8), Luke Triggs (6) and Ian Herring (5) gave IUP a 19-9 advantage in bench scoring in one of the best showings collectively by the reserves this season.

“A loss is a loss,” Merraro said, “but I feel like it’s a big confidence booster and I believe this could be a good turn to our season understanding that we didn’t play to our expectations and were still competing with a good team. So, we can take this into next week and grind it out in practice and flip our season around because we’ve shown how good we are and we’re able to compete with anybody. I hope this is a confidence booster for everybody.”

“I’ll take this as a step in the right direction,” Moore said, “playing against the No. 9 team in the country, a team of that caliber, and the way we came out and fought and battled and took the lead a couple times. I’d rather lose that way than the other way we’ve been losing.”

WEDNESDAY’S BOX SCORE
GANNON 89, IUP 82
Gannon (13-2)
Desmond 3-4 3-6 10, Goodrick 2-7 6-8 10, Sekasi 8-9 0-0 19, Shelton 9-16 5-5 29, Prosser 4-9 2-2 12, Montano 0-1 1-2 1, Sarver 1-2 6-9 8, Morabito 0-2 0-0 0, Carpenter 0-2 0-0 0, Kemp 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 27-54 (55) 23-32 (.719) 89
IUP (7-8)
Brooks 4-6 1-6 9, Grove 3-10 2-4 10, Merraro 4-13 3-6 12, Moore 8-14 0-0 19, Furtun 5-7 2-2 13, Herring 2-4 1-2 5, Pickens 3-3 0-1 8, Triggs 3-6 0-0 6, Totals 32-63 (.509) 9-21 (.429) 82
Halftime — Gannon 35-29. 3-point field goals — Gannon 12-23 (Desmond 1-2, Goodrick 0-1, Sekasi 3-3, Shelton 6-11, Prosser 2-4, Sarver 0-1, Morabito 0-1,), IUP 9-19 (Grove 2-6, Merraro 1-3, Moore 3-6, Furtun 1-2), Pickens 2-2). Rebounds — Gannon 34 (Goodrick 9), IUP 36 (Furtun 10). Assists — Gannon 14 (Desmond 5), IUP 13 (Merraro 8). Turnovers — Gannon 14, IUP 13. Total fouls — Gannon 17, IUP 21.