Art in Motion
Merraro's dazzling moves lift IUP to last-second win over Seton Hill, 59-56
The play didn’t work.
The play coach Joe Lombardi called didn’t work, so IUP freshman point guard Kymani Merraro took matters into his hands and created a piece of basketball artistry.
With the game tied on the final possession, Merraro turned a broken play into a masterpiece, putting on a dazzling display in the final seconds and swishing the game-winning 3-point field goal at the buzzer for a 59-56 victory over Seton Hill in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball game at the KCAC on Saturday afternoon.
“He thought he was in 2K,” IUP’s Ian Herring said, referring the “NBA 2K25” videogame. “That’s just Ky. I really don’t have words to describe what he did.”
With 18 seconds to go, Lombardi called for Merraro to get the ball on the right wing, pick up a screen from Herring and go from there to create a play against a 1-3-1 zone defense. The screen was ineffective, so Merraro backed off and passed left to Christian Moore.
Moore tossed the ball back to Merraro with eight seconds left. Herring set a second screen that was ineffective, so Herring backed to the left of the free throw line to create space. At that point, it didn’t look like IUP was going to get off a shot let alone a quality one with Merraro 35 feet from the basket and time ticking away.
Then Merraro went to work one-one-one. In rapid fashion, he dribbled between his legs from right to left and left to right; in front to his left; behind his back to his right and back to his left; crossed over the defender with one dribble and a giant step to the left; came to a jump stop at the 3-point line, stepped back and pump-faked a shot; waited for one defender and then a second to fly past; and squared to the basket and unleashed the game-winning shot just before the final horn sounded.
“It feels good to make the play. It feels good to win the game,” Merraro said. “I’ve got to give a shoutout to Ian because he played amazing. It’s more than just that one play, but it feels great.”
“I’ve seen him do that in practice,” Herring said. “We do one dribble, one-on-one, pump fake and fly by. That’s a shot he works on. That’s not luck.”
Merraro sank the first game-winning shot of his career. It came in a regular-season game for a tradition-rich program, so it hardly ranks as one of the biggest in school history. But Merraro pulled off what might be the most dazzling one-on-one move in school history.
“He really was clutch for us down the stretch,” Lombardi said. “He’s got a lot of courage and the moment is never too big for him.”
The last play “didn’t evolve like we hoped it would,” Lombardi said, “maybe to Seton Hill’s credit because they did a good job and had two guys on him. It’s easy for him to get stuck in that situation because of his size and he can’t elevate over them. But his poise to shot-fake and get guys to fly by, that’s pretty special.”
Then he chuckled and said, “If they didn’t fly by, I’d say you’ve got to get something on the rim.”
That came on the previous possession, again with the game tied but with Seton Hill playing man-to-man defense for the first time in the game. With IUP coming out of a timeout with 1:03 to go, Merraro milked some time off the clock on the right wing, beat his defender to the baseline, drove to the bucket, picked up a screen from Damir Brooks rolling down the right side of the lane, dribbled underneath the backboard and laid a soft reverse layup off the glass with his right hand for a 56-54 lead.
“They actually came out in man that possession,” Lombardi said, “and when they did that there was no doubt we were going to put Ky on a ball screen and let him make a play, and he didn’t disappoint.”
“I saw they were in man and I was like, ‘Yeah. OK. Finally,’” Merraro said. “They were playing zone the whole game and I knew no one could guard me one-on-one so I’ve got to make a play. That got my confidence up a lot. So, the last play, I saw 1-3-1 and I was like, ‘Yeah. It’s go-time again.’ So, I was excited.”
So were his amazed teammates, who chased him to the opposite end of the court and mobbed him.
“They trampled me,” Merraro said. “C-Moore had me in a headlock. It was excitement. It was fun.”
Up to that point, the game was hardly a work of art. IUP shot 36.7 percent from the floor, and Merraro’s 3 was only its fifth of the game. Seton Hill shot 31.5 percent and made six 3s.
The Hawks (9-8, 5-5 PSAC) held a six-point halftime lead at 28-22 thanks to offensive rebounding. IUP led the rebounding 28-15 with half the boards coming on offense and accounting for an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points.
The reverse was true in the second half. Seton Hill (10-8, 3-7) led the rebounding 27-12 with 15 offensive boards and dominated in second-chance points 17-2, which helped erase a nine-point deficit going into the last 4½ minutes and forge a tie to set up the last possession. The Griffins also went 11-for-14 from the free throw line in the second half.
“Seton Hill did a great job in their zone,” Lombardi said. “When you see it and they tweak it a little bit, you can have trouble getting comfortable, and we had a little bit of that. The only reason we were winning at halftime is we got so many offensive rebounds in the first half. They turned the tables on us in the second half.”
Merraro scored a team-high 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Herring, a 6-5 freshman, registered his first collegiate double-double with 14 points on 7-for-13 shooting and 10 rebounds.
“How about the game Ian had?” Lombardi said. “A double-double, 10 rebounds, 14 points, three steals, four blocks, and I think he brought you a hot dog at halftime. Those two freshmen really played well.”
Merraro, Herring and Luke Triggs (nine points, 3-for-4, five rebounds) were a combined 16-for-26 (.615) from the field. The rest of the team was 6-for-34 (.176).
Kedrick Curtis, a 6-7 sophomore, led Seton Hill with 17 points. Edir Ortis, a 6-9 redshirt freshman, had 13 points and 10 rebounds. They shot a combined 9-for-20 (.450) from the field, and the rest of the team was 8-for-34 (.235).
“Defense won the day,” Lombardi said.
IUP won both of its PSAC West games this week and moved from sixth in the standings to a tie for third in what is developing into a tight race behind Gannon, the runaway favorite and defending conference champion.
The Hawks play at Slippery Rock (10-9, 6-5) on Wednesday with a chance to move into second place. Slippery Rock lost at Clarion, 97-87, on Saturday. The Rock started the season 2-6, won seven straight and dropped three of its past four games.
“I know the rivalry, how big it is, how important the game is,” Herring said. “We have to be ready to play, for sure. When they’re healthy, they’re a really good team.”
SATURDAY’S BOX SCORE
IUP 59, SETON HILL 56
Seton Hill (10-8)
Curtis 4-9 8-10 17, Ortiz 5-11 2-3 13, Lattimore 1-5 1-2 4, Rice 1-6 0-0 2, Meis 2-12 2-2 8, Brewer 1-3 0-0 3, Martenson 0-0 0-0 0, Belade 1-2 0-0 2, Coury 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 17-54 (.315) 16-20 (.800) 56
IUP (9-8)
Brooks 2-5 3-4 7, Grove 2-12 2-2 6, Merraro 6-9 0-0 15, Moore 1-10 2-2 5, Furtun 1-5 0-0 3, Herring 7-13 0-1 14, Pickens 0-2 0-1 0, Triggs 3-4 3-4 9, Totals 22-60 (.367) 10-14 (.714) 59
Halftime — IUP 28-22. 3-point field goals — Seton Hill 6-22 (Curtis 1-2, Ortiz 1-3, Lattimore 1-3, Rice 0-3, Meis 2-10, Brewer 1-1), IUP 5-19 (Grove 0-2, Merraro 3-5, Moore 1-6, Furtun 1-3, Herring 0-2, Pickens 0-1). Rebounds — Seton Hill 42 (Ortiz 10), IUP 40 (Herring 10). Assists — Seton Hill 9 (Curtis 3), IUP 6 (Moore, Furtun 2). Turnovers — Seton Hill 12, IUP 9. Total fouls — Seton Hill 15, IUP 17.
SATURDAY’S OTHER PSAC SCORES
Clarion 97, Slippery Rock 87
Daemen 82, Gannon 70
Pitt-Johnstown 105, California 93
East Stroudsburg 79, Bloomsburg 56
Mansfield 81, Lock Haven 77
Millersville 93, Kutztown 78
West Chester 95, Shippensburg 78
It was a frustrating game to watch for 39 minutes but that last minute was worth the wait.