Homecoming Day
IUP duo returns to Erie to face Gannon in PSAC West matchup
Two IUP basketball players have a homecoming Saturday.
Tyler Grove and Alfonso Pickens Jr. return to their hometown of Erie when IUP plays at Gannon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball game at the Highmark Events Center.
Grove, a 6-foot-7 freshman starter, played at McDowell High School and earned the District 10 player of the year honor and third-team all-state recognition. He averaged 22.6 points per game as a senior and finished his career with 1,128 points.
At IUP, Grove has started all 21 games and is averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
“I’m very excited. It’s a little homecoming for me,” Grove said. “I’m sure a lot of my family will be coming out to the game so that gets me excited.”
For Pickens, it’s a homecoming in two regards. The 6-1 guard signed with Gannon out of Cathedral Prep High School. As a freshman at Gannon in 2021-22, he played in 12 games and finished his first of five starts with 14 assists.
He transferred to Albany Community College as a sophomore and joined IUP this season to be the backup point guard.
“I get to go home and play in front of my family and some of my friends and play at the organization where I was before,” Pickens said. “I’m just looking forward to it and being able to see some old faces.”
Pickens missed the first seven games with a knee injury. He is playing 16 minutes per game and averaging 3.8 points on 48.8 percent shooting (20-for-41), including 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from 3-point range.
“Coach is real hard on point guards but I’m getting used to it,” Pickens said. “He takes the training wheels off now but there’s still a lot of work to do in the system.”
Homecomings can be a tricky proposition. Some players tend to get overly excited, which sometimes affects their performance.
“I’ve talked with Coach already,” Grove said. “You just treat every game the same and the preparation has to be the same. He told me early in the season to focus on preparing at a high level and the results will come.”
Grove and his freshman teammates, point guard Kymani Merraro and 6-5 reserve forward Ian Herring, turned in one of their best collective performances in Wednesday’s 88-70 win over Penn State DuBois. All three scored in double figures. Grove scored 16 points and came up two rebounds short of his second collegiate double-double, and Merraro posted his first double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. Herring scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and came up with two steals, raising his team-leading total to 38.
“We stay in the gym,” Grove said. “We love the game of basketball and put a lot of work into it and play with passion and play with joy so that’s just the result you get when you do those things. And we play together. We lean on our teammates, lean on each other, and hope for the best when we go out there.”
This is IUP’s second matchup against Gannon. The Golden Knights won at IUP, 89-82, on Jan. 8. Grove finished with 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting with two 3-point field goals and Pickens went 3-for-3 with two 3s for eight points.
The game is crucial for both teams in the PSAC West standings. Gannon has clinched a PSAC tournament berth and needs one win to secure no worse than a tie for the division title. IUP is fighting to maintain playoff position, with berths going to the top six teams.
Gannon (17-6) leads the division at 12-3 and holds a healthy four-game advantage in the race for the division title in an effort to defend its conference championship.
IUP (11-10), amid a rebuilding project, is 6-7 and sits in fifth place in a tight race for the other five tournament berths. The second- through fourth-place teams have the same number of losses as IUP, and the sixth- through eighth-place teams have the same number of wins.
“We had a run where we put a talented team on the floor every night,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said, referring to a run of fourth straight conference titles that ended last year, “but things are a little more even now.”
IUP (11-10) at GANNON (17-6)
When and where — 3 p.m. Saturday, Highmark Events Center, Erie
In the PSAC — IUP is fifth in the West Division at 6-7 and trails Gannon (12-3), Edinboro (8-7), California (8-7) and Slippery Rock (7-7) and leads Pitt-Johnstown (6-8), Seton Hill (6-9) and Clarion (6-9). Six teams qualify for the conference tournament. Gannon has clinched a tournament berth, leaving five spots open among seven teams. IUP has the same number of losses as the three teams it trails and the same number of wins as the three teams it leads. The Hawks have seven conference games remaining and the rest of the division has either five or six. They have won back-to-back games only once since going on a five-game streak in November.
Gannon is 12-3 and needs one win to clinch at least a tie for the division title. The Golden Knights are the defending PSAC and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region champions.
About IUP — IUP is coming off Wednesday’s 88-70 win over Penn State DuBois in a non-conference game. IUP has PSAC wins over Clarion (84-57), Seton Hill (59-56), Pitt-Johnstown (84-73), Kutztown (66-64), Shippensburg (72-57) and Lock Haven (80-70) and losses to California (78-74), Slippery Rock (75-64), Edinboro (81-65), Gannon (89-82), Shepherd (68-57), West Chester (88-80) and Millersville (76-68). IUP is 9-2 at home and 2-8 away from home.
About Gannon — The Golden Knights lost their first two games of the season, to defending national champion Nova Southeastern and Lake Superior State, then reeled off 15 straight wins before losing four of their past six games. They are coming off Wednesday’s 82-74 win over Edinboro, which snapped a three-game losing streak. The other loss during the slump came at unbeaten Daemen (82-70), which is ranked second nationally. Gannon is 9-1 at home. The Knights have PSAC wins over Bloomsburg (95-70), East Stroudsburg (105-93), Mansfield (113-67), Shippensburg (100-73), Shepherd (92-72) Lock Haven (89-84), California (108-71), IUP (89-82), Edinboro (100-84, 82-74), Slippery Rock (90-64) and Pitt-Johnstown (91-83) and losses in succession to Seton Hill (79-72), Clarion (83-79) and California (106-84). Gannon was ranked as high as No. 7 in the NCAA Division II coaches’ poll before falling out during its recent slump. First-year coach Easton Bazzoli was an assistant on last year’s team, which finished 32-3.
Last meeting — Gannon won at IUP, 89-82, on Jan. 8. In a game that featured 13 lead changes and four ties, Gannon led 35-29 at halftime and outscored IUP 54-53 in the second half when both teams shot better than 65 percent from the floor. Gannon’s Ernest Shelton poured in 29 points and was followed by Lucas Sekasi (19), Pace Prosser (12), Victor Demond (10) and Tasman Goodrick (10). Christian Moore led IUP with 19 points and was followed by Sarp Furtun (13), Kymani Merraro (12), Tyler Grove (10) and Damir Brooks (9).
Coaches — IUP: Joe Lombardi (19th season, 428-130). Gannon: Easton Bazzoli (first season, 17-6).
All-time series — Gannon leads 36-26 and has won four straight following a stretch in which IUP won 15 of 18.
Webcast — psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/gannonsports
Broadcast — U92.5-FM and u92radio.com
Probable starters
IUP
Christian Moore (6-1, Jr. G, 17.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
Kymani Merraro (5-10 Fr. G, 13.9, 4.0)
Damir Brooks (6-6 RJr. F, 12.2, 7.4)
Tyler Grove (6-7 Fr. F, 11.4, 4.5)
Sarp Furton (6-4 So. G, 4.7, 4.3)
Gannon
Ernest Shelton (6-5 So. G, 18.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
Tasman Goodrick (6-9 So. F, 14.5, 10.4)
Pace Prosser (6-2 Fr. G, 14.3, 5.7)
Justin DeBuck (6-1 Gr. G, 11.9, 2.1)
Victor Desmond (6-7 Jr. G/F, 7.7, 4.0)
Next — IUP plays at Pitt-Johnstown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
SATURDAY’S PSAC GAMES
Games at 3 p.m.
West
IUP at Gannon
California at Slippery Rock
Pitt-Johnstown at Edinboro
Seton Hill at Clarion
East
Bloomsburg at Shepherd
Lock Haven at Shippensburg
Mansfield at West Chester
Millersville at East Stroudsburg
