Meeting Expectations
IUP visits Clarion in finale after keeping 17-year PSAC playoff streak going
The IUP Crimson Hawks didn’t want to be that team.
They didn’t want to be the IUP team that failed to make the playoffs for the first time in close to 20 years.
With the playoff streak in jeopardy, the team gathered for a players-only meeting Sunday after a disheartening loss to Slippery Rock at home the previous day. There was no drama, just things to hash out among teammates.
IUP responded Wednesday by claiming a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament berth with an 84-76 win over California at the KCAC. The Hawks are 13-14 overall and 8-11 in the PSAC going into Friday’s regular-season finale at Clarion.
“It was just building culture,” freshman forward Tyler Grove said of the meeting. “That has been an emphasis all year, but IUP is known for winning teams, and we haven’t been living up to that expectation. We’re getting there and growing every day, and we need to keeping building this culture and stay together as a team.”
“There was a lot of transparency in that meeting,” coach Joe Lombardi said. “Those are the type of things, when you’re vulnerable with people around, they love you more and see different sides they haven’t seen before, and it increases the gratitude for the shared challenges you have.”
Christian Moore, a junior guard and the team’s leading scorer, recounted meeting Brandon Norfleet, a fellow Virginian and one of the best guards in IUP history. Norfleet was present Saturday when members of the 2014-15 team that played in the national championship game were recognized at halftime.
Like those that played before and after him, as a junior Norfleet sacrificed his offensive opportunities in favor of IUP’s top two guards, Devante Chance and Shawn Dyer. Norfleet, capable of getting 20 points a night, averaged 11.4 and did so many other things well. And, in the biggest game of the season, he hit the biggest shot of the season — and one of the biggest in school history — a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining at West Liberty (W.Va.) that sent IUP to the Elite Eight and an eventual appearance in the national championship game.
The next season, Norfleet scored a single-season school record 662 points, cementing his legacy as one of the best two-way guards in school history.
“Really, we just talked about how we had to drop all our egos,” Moore said. “Everybody comes from somewhere where they were the top player on the team, and if we want to get where we want to get to, we have to sacrifice a lot of those feelings, similar to what other teams before us have done to get to where they went. They sacrificed a lot.
“Like Brandon Norfleet. The year they went all the way he only averaged 11 a game because he sacrificed his personal success for the team, and that’s what we talked about, and it showed out there.”
Now the Hawks have a chance to take another step. They can finish the regular season at .500 by winning back-to-back games for the first time since mid-January and enter the postseason on a winning streak. IUP’s only other winning streak reached five in November after an 0-2 start to the season.
IUP plays at Clarion on Friday evening looking to harness the momentum from its highest-quality win of the season. A playoff matchup at Slippery Rock, California or Edinboro is slated for Monday.
“It’s a big win and a big momentum-builder,” Grove said. “A lot of tournament play is which team gets hot at the right time, and we want to be that team. I feel like we’ve been getting better every day this year, and to have it come to life, hopefully we can carry this on to future games.”
“We needed this to propel us to make a run in the playoffs,” Moore said. “We’ve been in a constant battle back and forth with four other teams and it feels good to get this one and secure our spot, and now we start with a clean slate 0-0 going into the playoffs and just play. I think we’re a team that’s starting to hit its stride, and I don’t think teams want to see us in the playoffs.”
TOUGH TANDEM: Moore and Kymani Merraro teamed up in another dynamic performance following last week’s effort that carried IUP to an important win at Seton Hill, its first on the road in a conference game this season.
Merraro, a 5-foot-9 freshman point guard, scored a career-high 26 points and handed out six assists despite dealing with a head-and-chest cold.
Moore, a 6-1 junior guard, scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, including two that helped turn the game in the closing minutes when IUP went on a 22-7 run.
“And we need that,” Lombardi said of Moore’s performance. “He’s one of the guys, he’s learned from this year, and it’s been a great lesson for him about conditioning, and when I say conditioning, it’s also about how much sleep you get and what you eat and nutrition. I’ve had to play him a lot of minutes, and it’s beaten him down, so I’m not saying it’s easy what he’s done, but if he had to next year, he could play 35 a game, but I don’t think he’ll have to do that next year.”
Moore knew he had to pick it up after a 3-for-10 first half. He was 5-for-9 with two 3s in the second half and produced two steals that led to layups to fuel IUP’s game-changing 22-7 run.
“I had to because Ky was under the weather and couldn’t do it by himself,” Moore said. “And for us to win this game I have to score. That’s been my role all season and I recognized that and just let the game come to me. In the first half I forced things a little and was hunting my shot, but the second half I just let the game come to me, and it paid dividends.”
NO TIME FOR HAWK TIME: It’s has been a standard on IUP’s practice schedule for years: Hawk Time.
But not so much this year.
Hawk Time is the final stretch of the game when IUP is trying to protect a lead or rally for a win.
“We usually practice those scenarios a lot,” Lombardi said. “Actually, we haven’t done it that much this year. We try to practice how to end the first half and how to start the second half, how to start the game, and with inexperience, you hope to get that chance to have that scenario.”
When the situation arose Wednesday night, IUP excelled in one of its best stretches at any point in any game this season, going on a 22-7 run to overtake California and hold the Vulcans at bay. IUP scored on 10 of its final 11 possessions — six field goals and nine straight free throws — for its best win of the season.
MAC ATTACK: One of the most striking images Wednesday came before the game when IUP’s Callum MacNamara trotted out for pregame warmups minus about half the bouncy curly locks that make the 6-8 fan favorite from Australia stand out.
It wasn’t a shock when MacNamara trotted out as a starter. Lombardi has used him a couple times in place of Damir Brooks to keep the regular starter out of early foul trouble, and MacNamara also drew a start last week on Senior Day.
This time, though, it was more of a coach’s gut feeling about a good-natured kid and fierce competitor who rarely plays but always puts on his game face.
“He had a great vibe about him,” Lombardi said. “He didn’t even know he was going play but was happy as could be the last couple days.”
MacNamara finished with four points and four rebounds in 11½ minutes.
In a stretch that went unnoticed, Luke Triggs, a 6-8 junior, came off the bench and played less than two minutes. His two free throws with just under seven minutes to play kept IUP within two possessions of the lead.
“There were a lot of examples of guys that exhibited the qualities of loving and serving each other,” Lombardi said.
THE END OF THE RACE: IUP can wrap up fifth place in the division with a win at Clarion, which would set up Monday’s playoff opener at fourth-place Slippery Rock. The Hawks also can finish fifth with a loss and a Seton Hill loss at Gannon. They drop to sixth with a loss and a Seton Hill win.
California plays host to Edinboro on Saturday for second place and a first-round bye. The loser finishes third and plays host to the sixth-place team on Monday.
The quarterfinals are Wednesday with the 4-5 winner at Gannon and the 3-6 winner at the Edinboro-California winner.
Gannon is the defending champion.
In the East, all six slots are filled, but third and fourth remain up for grabs. West Chester won the East over East Stroudsburg, and both earned first-round byes. Shepherd plays at Millersville on Saturday to determine third and fourth place.
On Monday in playoff openers, Fifth-place Lock Haven plays at the Shepherd-Millersville loser, and sixth-place Shippensburg plays at the Shepherd-Millersville winner.
In Wednesday’s quarterfinals, the Lock Haven/Shepherd-Millersville winner plays at West Chester, and the Shippensburg/Shepherd-Millersville winner plays at East Stroudsburg.
The semifinals and championship game are next weekend, March 8-9, at the home of the highest remaining East seed after the quarterfinals.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: IUP saw some long winning streaks over teams end over the past two seasons. Most recently, Slippery Rock snapped a 34-game losing streak on IUP’s home court.
One record that remains intact, however, is IUP’s string of 17 straight PSAC playoffs appearances. The streak was previously reported here as 16, which is incorrect.
Lombardi led IUP to the playoffs every year after his first season. There was no conference tournament in 2020-21 when the PSAC canceled its season amid the COVID pandemic.
IUP finished with a winning record every season except for Lombardi’s first two, 6-21 in 2006-07 and 13-15 in 2007-08.
The Hawks are still working to keep that string intact.
In 19 seasons, Lombardi is 430-133 and has overseen seven conference titles, three regional championships, three appearances in the Elite Eight and IUP’s only two appearances in the national championship game.
WOMEN’S TICKETS: The PSAC announced tickets for the tournament are on sale via the Hudl ticket link.
The link for the IUP women’s home game against California at 6 p.m. Monday is: IUP WBB vs. California (Pa.) | PSAC Championship Tickets
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance online. There will be a mobile device at the site to purchase tickets, but there will be no cash sales. Tickets cannot be purchased through the KCAC box office.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children K-12. Students with a valid PSAC member institution ID card are admitted free.
IUP (13-14) at CLARION (11-14)
When and where — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Tippin Gymnasium
About IUP — The Crimson Hawks secured a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament berth with Wednesday’s 84-76 win over California. IUP is 8-11 is the PSAC and can finish either fifth or sixth in the West depending on the outcome of its game at Clarion and Seton Hill’s game at Gannon. IUP has PSAC wins over California, Clarion (84-57), Seton Hill (59-56, 75-71), Pitt-Johnstown (84-73), Kutztown (66-64), Shippensburg (72-57) and Lock Haven (80-70) and losses to Pitt-Johnstown (79-74), Gannon (89-82, 87-62), California (78-74), Slippery Rock (75-64, 78-71), Edinboro (81-65, 58-56), Shepherd (68-57), West Chester (88-80) and Millersville (76-68).
About Clarion — The Golden Eagles haven’t played in 10 days. They are 6-13 in the PSAC and can finish no better than eighth in an eight-team division. Clarion opened the season 7-1 and is 4-13 since. Clarion has PSAC wins over Pitt-Johnstown (79-76), Gannon (83-79), Slippery Rock (97-87), Mansfield (92-83), Bloomsburg (87-81) and Millersville (80-71) and losses to Slippery Rock (82-73), Gannon (78-65), California (73-71, 90-74), Seton Hill (77-60), Edinboro (94-93, 60-58), IUP (84-57), Pitt-Johnstown (68-65), Seton Hill (87-85), Lock Haven (70-60), Shepherd (71-57) and Shippensburg (66-63). Cam Kearney, a 6-6 junior guard, leads the conference in scoring at 21.5 points per game.
Last meeting — IUP won at home, 84-57, on Jan. 25. The Hawks led by nine points at halftime and outscored Clarion 43-25 in the second half. Christian Moore led IUP with 23 points and was following by Tyler Grove with 19, Kymani Merraro with 16 and Damir Brooks with 10. Cam Kearney (17) and Kendon Peebles (12) led Clarion.
Coaches — IUP: Joe Lombardi (19th season, 430-133). Clarion: Damian Pitts (sixth season, 40-107).
All-time series — IUP leads 124-59. Clarion snapped a 25-game losing streak against IUP last year, but IUP won the first meeting this season.
Webcast — psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/clarion
Broadcast — U92.5-FM and u92radio.com
Probable starters
IUP
Christian Moore (6-1, Jr. G, 17.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
Kymani Merraro (5-10 Fr. G, 15.0, 3.7)
Tyler Grove (6-7 Fr. F, 11.4, 4.3)
Damir Brooks (6-6 RJr. F, 10.6, 7.2)
Sarp Furton (6-4 So. G, 4.3, 4.0)
Key Reserves
Ian Herring (6-5 Fr. F, 7.2, 5.9)
Luke Triggs (6-7 Jr. F, 4.7, 2.8)
Alfonso Pickens Jr. (6-1 Jr. G, 2.9, 0.8)
Clarion
Probable Starters
Cam Kearney (6-6 Jr. G, 21.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
Jeremy Thomas II (6-5 RSo. F, 11.0, 6.4)
Gavin Cote (6-5 RSo. G, 10.3, 2.6)
Trey Nelson (6-0 Jr. G, 9.6, 3.6)
Justice Easter (6-5 Jr. G, 8.7, 4.8)
Key Reserves
Kendon Peebles (6-5 Jr. G, 7.4, 2.3)
Josiah Dow (6-8 Fr. F, 6.6, 3.3)
Traden Gray (6-9 Sr. F, 4.2, 3.9)
Next — IUP plays at either Slippery Rock, California or Edinboro on Monday in the first round of the PSAC tournament.
FRIDAY’S PSAC GAME
West
IUP at Clarion, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY’S PSAC GAMES
Games at 3 p.m.
West
Edinboro at California
Seton Hill at Gannon
East
Mansfield at Shippensburg
Lock Haven at East Stroudsburg
Shepherd at Millersville
West Chester at Kutztown
